The Legend, Loyalty and Laments of Zhen Ji
by Lady Grasshopper
Summary: She is the wife of the emperor and the mother of the emperor after him. Her name is Empress Zhen Ji and she was born for greatness. Sequel to "The Life, Love and Losses of Zhen Ji". Please R&R!
1. Sneak Peak

Alright you guys, here is a sneak peak for my latest story 'The Legend, Loyalty and Laments of Zhen Ji'! As I said before, this one won't be as historically accurate as the first one. This story will be rated M since it will have more adult themes than the first one did. I hope you enjoy it, but until I get it posted, here's a sneak peak!

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A few weeks and a few letters later, she and Cao Pi had managed to come to an understanding. They had both gone a little too far when neither one of them wanted to lose the originally light hearted argument. Everything settled back to normal again, except now she had become friends with Cai Wenji. Together, they started a home for widowed women to stay at while they looked for work. This was first thing she had done to help a massive number of people since she helped with the famine relief back in Zhangshan. It felt good to help the people again. Although, they were _her_ people, not just _the_ people now that she was once again the wife of the emperor. Oh well. It didn't really matter that much.

However, this peaceful time was short lived. In the middle of the night, Yin was woken by her door bursting open.

"Yin! Lady Yin, you must get out of here NOW!"

She rolled over and rubbed her eyes.

"Why?"

"Cao Pi was defeated by Shu. He couldn't get his supplies to the main camp and Jiang Wei ambushed him!"

Cai Wenji began running about the room grabbing things and gathering them next to her on the bed.

"Cao Pi had no choice but to go to the nearest city. So he won't be able to stop Shu from coming straight to us. You have to get out of here now, before it's too late!"

Yin launched herself from the bed and began to stuff everything Cai Wenji had brought into a bag.

"I had your maids get the horses ready. You'll bring the children and meet them in the stable."

"What about you?"

They gathered the two sacks and began running down the halls.

"What about you? Wenji, what about you!"

"I'm staying."

Yin grabbed the scholar's arm before they went into Rui's room.

"You can't." She whispered.

"It'll be fine, Yin. Jiang Wei won't harm a tutor, but the wife of the emperor and mother of his heir…" Wenji didn't finish her sentence.

She didn't need to either. Yin knew what was happening. Once again she found herself in a position that she would be used as leverage against Cao Pi. Only this time, she found out about it fast enough that she was still able to get the children and herself out.

"But where will we go?" She asked since she had no idea about what to do.

"Go to Xuchang."

"I can't!"

"Why?"

"Wenji, you're my friend, but I can't tell you. Just trust me. I can't go to Xuchang."

Lady Guo was in Xuchang. She would be dead if she went there. Only, Cai Wenji didn' know that.

However, she eventually gave in and answered;

"Alright, go wherever you think you'll be safe, but it has to be far, far away from here."

Yin nodded as Cai Wenji opened Rui's door. They went inside. Yin went to her son to get him up while Wenji began to gather some of his things.

"Momma, what's going on?" Rui's tired voice asked.

She pulled the sheets off of him.

"Quiet Rui, we just have to go on a journey."

"Why?"

"Because we need to leave home for a while." She told him as she picked him up.

"When will we be back?"

"I don't know." She answered.

She held him on her hip and followed Wenji out of the room. They went to the next door, which was Dong Xiang's room. They opened it and began the same routine. Wenji packed some clothes while Yin put Rui down and picked up Dong Xiang. Dong Xiang only began to fuss that she was waken up so early. Then they went into Xie's room.

"I'll take Dong Xiang. You get Xie."

Yin handed the girl to Wenji who held her with one arm and the sacks in the other. Yin shoved a few of Xie's things in the sack. Then she went and picked him up. He began to cry angrily. Yin patted him on the back and tried to sooth him, but considering that they were running, it was hard to keep the baby quiet. She followed Wenji down the halls and Rui followed right next to her.

While they ran through the courtyard, she saw countless others running and crying in terror. Soldiers tried to assemble under the command of their superiors, but with the nonfighting members of the court running in panic all around them, that alone was an uphill battle.

They made it to the stables to find that Shao Len and Jing Jia had prepared Cloud, Shadow and Storm. Wenji stuffed the sacks into the saddle bags. Len climbed up into Storm's saddle. Jia mounted on Cloud and Yin got up on Shadow. She held Xie in one arm and took the reins in the other. Wenji put Rui in the saddle in front of Jia. Then she put Dong Xiang in front of Len. Both maids wrapped an arm around the child and used the opposite hand to hold the reins.

"How can I ever thank you, Wenji?" Yin asked.

Wenji gave her a weak smile.

"Survive."

Yin nodded. Then she turned Shadow in the direction of the front gate. She sent Shadow off at a very controlled and collected lope. The gate had been opened to let the soldiers out, but there were more common people running through them than soldiers. The town was in just as much chaos as the castle had been. She wanted to stop and tell people to lock themselves in their houses. She wanted to tell them to go to the lowest level of their homes and surrender to any soldier that forced their way in, but she couldn't. She didn't have time. Knowing for how Shu 'fought for the people', they wouldn't harm the citizens of Luoyang.

The three women rode out of the city gates and made for the northern woods since Shu would be coming from south west. Once they got a few miles from the city, they could no longer hear the chaos. So they stopped the horses to let them catch their breath.

"What do we do now?" Jia asked.

"We can't go to Xuchang," Yin answered. "and Hefei is too far away."

"Where's Cao Pi?" Jia asked.

"I don't know. Wenji said he's gone to the nearest town he could, but I don't know which one that is." Yin explained.

"We could go to Yecheng." Len offered.

Yin had no desire to stay at the town that she had been taken to to be married Yuan Xi.

"No, I don't want to go there. It's too far anyway and so is the Guandu castle."

In reality, the distance was only one of many reasons not to go there. Some of the people there might still be loyal to the Yuans, as crazy as that sounded. If she went there and that was the case, they would turn her and the children over to Shu for betraying Yuan Shao all those years ago.

"Then what do we do?"

Yin thought for a long moment.

"I want to go home!" Rui whined.

"We can't, Rui." Jia soothed.

"Why!"

"It's not safe."

"Yin, wherever we go, we have to decide now. We can't stay here. The Shu scouts will be circling the city to look for any approaching Wei soldiers and they could find us." Len told her.

Yin let out a long breath. She made her decision, but she didn't like it. However, it was their only choice. There was nowhere that was safe for Lady Yin. Any town could have any number of Shu spies. They had to disappear for a while. At least until they could get to Cao Pi.

"There's nowhere that I can go. If anyone hears of my whereabouts, then Shu will send their soldiers after us." She told them.

"So what do we go, Yin?" Jia asked.

"Start by calling me 'Zhen Ji'." She announced. "We're going to Zhongshan."

The two maids stared at her.

"We're going home?" Jia said in almost a whisper as if she was too scared to say it any louder.

She nodded. Jia let out a happy cry.

"We're going home!"

Jia began riding north. Len followed close behind, but Yin took a moment to herself before letting Shadow trot to catch up. She was Zhen Ji again. She was going to see the family she hadn't heard from in over five years. Not only that, but she was going to see them again after they had been told that she was dead two years ago. She was going home alive and well. She didn't know who would be getting the bigger shock from this, her or her family.

"Zhongshan is days away." Len told her.

"Yes, it is, but we can cut the trip in half by staying off the roads. All we have to do is ride straight north. Then we can swing east when we reach Ji province, but by the time we get there, we'll know right where we are." Zhen reasoned.

All three of them were very familiar with Ji province. As long as they weren't turned around in a thick wood, they'd be able to find their way to Zhongshan.


	2. Life as Lady Yin

Alright readers, HERE IT IS! I've been working on this forever and I hope it was worth it. I know a lot of you enjoyed how 'The Life, Love and Losses of Zhen Ji' was historically accurate, but by now, Cao and Zhen are already dead. So I've had to take a few liberties as far as historical accuracy goes. Don't worry, Sima Yi, Lady Guo, Zhang Liao and all the others are still in this story. Basically, this story would be what I imagine 'Dynasty Warriors' would do if they continued with the other historic battles of the three kingdoms era up until the founding of the Jing Dynasty. I'll mainly use the Battle of Xingshi and the Battle of Didao, as well as a few minor battles of my own imagining.

Remember, in the end, the land was united under Wei, which was under the Sima family's control. So Sima Yi will be the main bad guy. He makes such a good bad guy and it's appropriate since he was Cao Pi's main… competition isn't really the right word, but you know what I mean and don't forget about Lady Guo!

That was a sneal peak before, this is the actual chapter one. Sorry for any confusion.

There, enough talk on my part. Time for the story! Enjoy!

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Life as Lady Yin

Lady Yin sat on the grass of the gardens of the castle of Luoyang. Cao Xie sat on her lap as he played with the stuffed panda bear Shao Len had made for him. He stuffed one of the bear's limbs in his mouth and pulled it out again when he realized that it wasn't any good.

Rui and Dong Xiang were off playing somewhere with the other maids. Yin liked to have time alone with each one of her children, especially Rui since he was still so young. In fact, he hadn't even had his first birthday yet.

It had been over three years since she had adopted the name 'Yin Ji' and it was only a few weeks after Lady Bian's death. Cao Pi, her official husband once again as of a few days ago, was also the emperor of Cao Wei. The pact was sealed by the former emperor, Xian, giving him his two daughters as concubines. Yin didn't like it, as could be expected. However, Cao didn't seem to give the two sisters much attention at all, much to her and their own relief. So in some strange sequence of events, she became friends with them.

Their relationship was friendly and had no sense of jealousy to be found in it. After all, she was still madly in love with Cao Pi and they weren't, but he treated them well. He may not give them the attention that he gave her, but he made sure that they had comfortable lives and were supplied with anything they needed.

After losing Lady Bian, it was good to have the two sisters as friends. The deeper truth was, they weren't only friends, they were really good friends. The two sisters were like aunts to Rui, Dong Xiang and Xie, when he was old enough to appreciate their relationship that is. For now, he was just a baby approaching his six month birthday.

"Lady Yin, the emperor has returned."

She turned around and saw Shao Len, her aging maid standing above her with a smile on her face. Yin hadn't even heard her coming. She got to her feet and held the bundle of fabric that Xie was wrapped in in her arms. Like Rui, he wasn't a large baby. None of her children had been, but remembering that her mother died in childbirth… she was just glad that she lived through all three herself.

"Where's Rui and Dong Xiang?"

Cao Rui was now five years old while Cao Dong Xiang had just ended the phase known as her 'terrible twos'. However, it really hadn't been as 'terrible' as the phrase described, but now that she was three, the girl's behavior had gotten noticeably better.

"Rui's with Jing Jia in the stables and Dong Xiang's still taking a nap."

"Have Jia bring Rui to the gardens and you can bring Dong Xiang. I'll take Xie with me to meet him in the courtyard."

Len smiled even wider and left.

As unfortunate as it was, she could never greet Cao Pi with Rui or Dong Xiang with her, even if she was Cao Pi's wife here. She was Lady Yin now and even though everyone knew that she had 'taken up' responsibility for their care, she couldn't spend as much time with them as she could with Xie. It was always terribly painful to see them and worry about if anyone would grow suspicious as to why she was with Lady Zhen's children. Len and Jia were their primary caregivers. However, she could always tuck them into bed and eat meals with them without anyone noticing.

Yin turned and started down the halls. Her paintings, old and new alike, lined the walls of the castle. She never signed them as 'Lady Yin'. For some reason, she just couldn't. Nor did she sign as 'Zhen Ji', for more obvious reasons. So every painting she ever did as Yin Ji was never signed. She wasn't really concerned about people not knowing who made them, but she did make up for it by copying one of Cao Pi's poems on it.

It was like a game between them. Cao Pi would try and hide his poem book from her, while she would find it and copy one of the poems onto her latest painting. Then she would either put the book back in its latest hiding place or simply put it on the center of his desk in their chambers. He would find it on his desk just before they went to bed and she'd give him some sarcastic remark about how he needed to find better hiding places. He'd usually respond with a 'punishment'. Whether she wanted a more severe or lighter 'punishment' dictated where she put the book when she was done with it. Of course, his way of controlling the game was where he hid the book. If he came up with a really good hiding place, then he was baiting her. Of course, she usually took the bait, but not every time simply to surprise him. That way, he was never in total control.

Since Cao Pi had been gone to check on some issues at the south western border, the Cao Wei and Shu Han border, their game had been put on hold for the past two weeks. Now he was back.

Tons of Lady Bian's old pottery pieces stood on side tables in the corners and the old war banners hung as tapestries since they didn't have much other use. All the fighting and the wars were over. Wei, more specifically, Emperor Cao Pi, owned the northern lands and the central plains. The Cao Wei Empire was the largest and strongest in all the land and here she was, the emperor's wife. Not too bad for girl who started out as a governor's daughter.

However, she would never be empress. It was upsetting, but also necessary for her cover. Lady Guo had been Cao Pi's concubine longer than even Lady Zhen had been his wife. So there was no logical reason for Lady Yin to be made empress. Besides, it would draw attention. With Lady Guo in Xuchang and Sima Yi, who was here in Luoyang now, that was something she didn't really need. It was already hard to avoid Sima Yi as is. If she was empress, then she would have to spend more time in court. With three children to take care of, by herself at times, she already had enough to do.

No, that wasn't really true. She had her maids, Jing Jia and Shao Len and she also had both of the former emperor's daughters, who were both known as 'Lady Liu'. It was appropriate since the two of them, other than being two years apart in age, were like twins. However, it did make having conversations with them a little confusing, it was difficult since whenever she would say 'Lady Liu', they wouldn't know which one she was talking to. That's when she started calling them by their given names and that's when their friendship started growing deeper.

Yin turned the final corner and emerged into the courtyard. There were at least a hundred mounted soldiers before her. She paused for a moment to make sure that Sima Yi wasn't among those who had returned. He wasn't. So she continued at a brisk walk.

Cao Pi swung down from Ginger's saddle. When he turned to flip the reins over the mare's head, that's when he saw her. Smiles spread across both their faces. He handed Ginger's reins to the nearest soldier and ran to meet her. He swung his arms around her, but was careful not to crush Xie between them. Then he cupped her face in his palms and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

That was a considerably formal greeting compared to the one she got back at Xuchang, but that one had been a little more emotional than this one. So it was a good thing.

"I missed you so much." She whispered.

He smiled.

"How's the children?"

"Rui's been hard to take away from the stable. Jia and I have been taking him for pony rides every day. Dong Xiang has been keeping everyone on their toes."

He laughed. Dong Xiang was always on the move. She ran from place to place as fast as her little legs could take her. She had Yin's fair skin, but Cao's bold eyes. Her long black hair was always pulled into a loose braid or more commonly, a ponytail.

Rui, the image of his father, was insistent on being like his father by learning how to ride. He had really taken to her old horse, Cloud. The white mare simply seemed to enjoy all the attention she was getting from it.

"And what about little Xie?"

"Quiet, as usual."

Xie was a strangely quiet boy. He had Yin's fair skin and slightly golden colored hazel eyes, but overall, he had the look of his father, as Rui did. Rui was simply the child version of Cao Pi as Lady Bian, Cao Pi's mother, put it. Which he was. He looked and acted exactly like his father. They both had black hair, slightly tan colored skin and beautifully bold blue eyes.

She and Cao Pi began walking up the steps to get to the throne room. They were greeted by two loud shouts that were perfectly chorused;

"Daddy!"

Rui and Dong Xiang came running. Cao kneeled down and greeted them with a smile and open arms. He took one child in each arm and held them against either of his hips.

"There's my boy and my girl."

Yin paused and smiled to herself. Two years ago, Rui's paternity had been questioned once again, but Cao Pi knew better. She was so glad for it. Those rumors may have destroyed Lady Zhen, but they didn't destroy her. She was Lady Yin now and life as Lady Yin was peaceful and easy compared to life as Zhen Ji. So she was happy with the change.

Why shouldn't she be? There was nothing she lost when she gave up the name 'Zhen'. Her family hadn't tried to contact her at all and she hadn't seen them for five years. They had clearly forgotten about her. So she would forget about them. Cao Pi, Rui, Xie and Dong Xiang were her family now. Not to mention Cao Ren and Cao Pi's brothers and sisters. Cao Ren had been Cao Cao's cousin, so there was a connection there, even if it didn't have any sort of official term.

Rui squirmed in his arms so Cao set him down, but Dong Xiang was content with being held.

"Daddy, I rode Cloud again today! She tried to eat some grass while we were walking, but I didn't let her because mommy said I shouldn't let her. So I didn't." Rui babbled.

"That's right, Rui." Cao confirmed. "What about you, Xiang? What have you been up to?"

Dong Xiang wasn't speaking full sentences yet and she seemed a little overwhelmed. So she simply buried her face in her father's chest. Cao only smiled.

The family walked over to the castle gardens in the western courtyard. There was a spot they all liked. It was in the center of the gardens. There was a stone bench set under a giant cherry tree. The tree provided shade and a wondrous smell. The grass surrounding it was lush and soft. There was also a small table set for four nearby, next to the walkway. That's where they often had their dinner together as they watched the sun set behind the mountains.

Yin sat on the stone bench with Xie in her arms while Cao Pi and Rui began a pretend wrestling match. Such games usual ended with Rui giggling his submission under his father's tickling fingers, but every once in a while, Dong Xiang would aid her bother and the two child would get Cao Pi tackled under them. Today however, Dong Xiang began looking through the small growing cherries as soon as Cao Pi had let her down. Dong Xiang had a sweet tooth like no other, especially for cherries and peaches. The gardeners even planted a few peach trees just for her.

As could be imagined, that was quite the sign of devotion from the gardeners. Not that such displays of loyalty were rare though. Now that the fighting was over, everyone who had ever been loyal to Wei had somehow shown their appreciation to Cao Pi. He deserved it too. Not only had he stopped the fighting, he prevented the economy from crashing.

After the battle of Xuchang, she had told him that things might get hard for everyone. Mostly the blacksmiths. After all, now that the fighting was over, all their orders for arrow heads and swords would come to a halt. Of course, not only the blacksmiths would have it hard, but also the horse breeders. Cao Pi didn't have any more need for war horses. Who would buy all the young colts and fillies? The farmers in central Wei too would be left with less business. Now that the army had been dismissed, who nearby would buy their crops and how could they ship them out to people that needed them? There were countless other scenarios. To solve these kinds of problems, Cao Pi lowered the taxes to a minimum so that the people could use their money for their own businesses instead of the court, which really had no use for it anyway. After all, they didn't need to fund for an army anymore.

In return for the tax cuts, respect and many favors, such as planting peach trees, were given to them.

x

Getting Dong Xiang to bed was always a challenge. She never seemed to want to give up the adventures waiting for her outside to waste her time with something as useless as sleep. Times like these were when Yin's old flute came in handy. A few slow, soothing songs and Dong Xiang was left yawning with droopy eyes.

Of course, Rui was easier to put to bed. He seemed to be excited by the idea of a new day and the events it could hold. So he wanted to get to bed early so that he could wake up that much earlier. Lucky for everyone in the castle, he never was up particularly early, but no one let him know that. They all let him think he was up early simply so that he would continue going to bed nicely.

Xie could always be counted upon to keep everyone guessing. No one knew how the child would take to going to bed. Some nights, he would fuss, simply for attention. Other nights, he would sleep soundly until the morning. Every once in a while, he would wail and cry until someone would cradle or feed him.

She had no idea how any woman could care for three young children without maids to help. Shao Len, although she was starting to get old, never seemed to mind getting up in the night to get Xie what he needed. So to confiscate for the late nights, Yin usually gave Shao Len as much time off the job as she wanted. She thought it would be a nice gesture, but Len seemed insulted by it at certain times.

Then when the children were in bed, the book games began.

Other than the slight chaos that was brought on today by Cao Pi's return, her life was filled with the peace she had always wanted and she was more than content with her life as Lady Yin.

x

The next morning, she and Cao Pi were late in waking up. After dressing and having a relatively quiet breakfast compared to others, Cao Pi had a court meeting to go to and he left.

This was the usual start of the day. Cao Pi went to work at the court and she went to work, or play, with the children. Today, she decided to take Rui to the market, just to take in the sights if nothing else. Luoyang was a beautiful city. It was clean and well kept. The people were friendly, so there was no need for bodyguards, especially since she was the wife of the man who was the reason for things going so well. Regardless, Cao Pi told her that whenever she left the castle gates, she was to have escorts. So she and Rui were followed by five well-paid Wei soldiers. She recognized a few of them from the battle of Guandu, Chibi and even during the invasion of Hebei. They were clearly some of Cao Pi's most trusted men. So she felt safe with them. Of course, it did help that they didn't just shadow her every step. They kept their distance, but kept a watchful eye on them and the people around them. Not that they were a threat.

The people around them smiled and moved out of their way. Rui held her hand as they walked. They stopped at a vender selling exotic birds. Rui pet the bird the seller was holding and giggled when the bird ruffled its wings.

After looking at several different sellers, they went back to the castle. She found Shao Len and Jing Jia with both Lady Lius and Dong Xiang all sitting at one of the tables on a balcony. Dong Xiang was nibbling on some peach slices while all the ladies were having their midafternoon tea.

Rui ran off to play with some of the other boys in the castle. Among the other children were the sons of Xu Huang and Zhang Liao. If there were any generals in Wei that she respected, it was those two. Of course, Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren deserved to be on that list as well, but there was also Dian Wei, who had died. All the generals of Cao Wei deserved respect, so she left it at that before she got carried away.

Anyway, Cao Rui had become good friends with Xiahou Zuo, Xiahou Dun's grandson. For Xiahou Dun, he saw the relationship between the boys as his relationship used to be with Cao Cao. So needless to say, there was a deep mutual respect between them.

After a few minutes of a light discussion over the feast they were having tonight to celebrate Cao Pi's return, she took her leave to go get Cao Xie up from his nap. She found him rubbing his eyes with his little hands. She picked him up so that he could look over her shoulder and rocked him gently.

x

That night, there was a feast to celebrate Cao Pi's return. It wasn't as grand as either one of their wedding feasts had been, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

Shao Len had made her a golden colored dress to wear. It had a slightly low v-cut collar with long elegant sleeves. There was a thick belt around her waist and a thigh high slit over her left leg. She wore her usual short heels and a few pieces of jewelry, including a jeweled head dress in the shape of a peacock with jewels hanging down the side of her face. It was good to dress up again. Not that she had let herself go. She was still thin and kept herself well groomed. It was just she hadn't had a chance to dress up for Cao Pi in a while.

She noticed that he had a small grin on his face and avoided looking at her when he could. She smiled to herself because she knew that he was only avoiding looking at her because he knew that he would stare. It was just like her first wedding back in Yecheng. Except this time, they had opposite roles. She was the one giving him that stare and he was the one trying to hide his thoughts.


	3. The Return of Zhen Ji

Finally, chapter 2! Vampiregirl2009 wolfgirl77769, if you want a Xing Cai/ Sun Quan story, then how about you write one? I don't think anyone's done that before and considering how passionate you are about it, I'm sure it would be very entertaining. Give it a try at least.

A Fan, thank you so much for your review for my 'Star of Shu Han' story! It means a lot.

Special thanks to Snook24, Gan Aurora, Ignited, Rudolf Rayquaza and CaoPiCaoWei for the reviews on the first chapter!

Happy Easter Everyone. Consider this my Easter present to all of you!

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The Return of Zhen Ji

The next morning, Yin woke up lying on her stomach. She stirred before opening her eyes. The first thing she saw was Cao Pi sitting next to her. He was leaning against the head board with his poem book on his lap as he wrote. He smiled when he noticed her watching him.

"Want to read my latest?" He asked as he handed her to book.

She took it and leaned her head on his arm as she started to read the perfectly written characters. His writing never ceased to amaze her. Every stroke of his ink brush appeared to be done with such caution and perfection. Of course, she doubted that he put as much effort into his writing as he appeared to. It probably just came naturally to him. In a way, she was envious of his writing, but only because hers wasn't as good.

When she finished reading, she gave him a look that was mixed with a sense of humor and crude offense. She playfully threw the book back at him and said;

"Your poems used to be beautiful and inspiring! That one is absolutely horrible!"

He calmly leaned over the bed and picked the book up from the floor where it fell. Then he put it on the side table next to the bed.

"Well, I thought it could be inspiring, in a different kind of way."

She gave him a dirty look. He only laughed.

"Forgive me for not begging for forgiveness or graveling at your feet, my lord." She retorted as she pushed the sheets off her and got out of the bed.

Before she could get up, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into the bed. He pulled her up against himself and whispered into her ear. His words made her elbow him in the gut. He grunted and loosened her grip, giving her the moment she needed to escape.

She pulled a casual dress over her head and settled it over her curves. It was a sleeveless light weight dress that was white in color. Then she wrapped herself in a dark purple robe and slipped her shoes on. By then Cao Pi had caught his breath and thought of something to say.

"Well, either way, you're forgiven for not asking for forgiveness, but when it comes to assaulting the emperor…" His voice trailed off as he gave her another one of his skeptic looks.

"I would think that a man who has the bravery to fight in countless battles and has the intellect to begin a new dynasty could handle a minor internal relations problem." She shot back.

"Ha! What about Lady Guo? You couldn't have handled that without my help."

She moved over to her mirror and began smoothing her hair into a ponytail.

"If you remember, it was my idea to get Rui out of the city and to write the suicide note so that I couldn't be used as leverage against you." She told him proudly.

"And if I didn't figure that out, then Sima Yi may have discarded you."

"Except that the letter you wrote almost made me drown myself."

The light hearted argument had quickly turned into a bitter one. This was a touchy subject for her. She didn't like talking about it, ever. Anytime she did, she remembered the pain and despair she had felt back in the northern courtyard. Couldn't he understand that and not mention it again?

"I had to write something that sounded like that's what I wanted for Sima Yi to read, but also told you that I was coming with the army."

She didn't respond.

"You were the one to write the suicide note in the first place." He continued.

"I get it, Cao Pi!" She cut in.

She wanted to continue on with; 'I'm stupid and you're a genius' and more stuff like that, but she didn't. Instead, she simply walked out of the room. He called after her, but she ignored him and quickly disappeared into the maze of hallways before he could get dressed and come after her.

She needed some time to herself. If she left the castle, the nearest soldiers would follow after and the others would send word that they had gone as her escorts. Then word of it would get back to Cao Pi eventually. So to get away, she would have to stay in the castle.

She found her way down to the scroll room. It was a big room with aisles and aisles of historic scrolls. This was never a place she had gone to before. The biggest reason was that this is probably where Sima Yi spends most of his time, but right now, he wasn't here.

She went toward the back and took a seat at one of the tables. She rested her elbows on the table and put her palms over her eyes. Then she let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?"

The voice made her jump. She moved her hands away and saw a woman she had never seen before. She wore an elaborate blue dress with multiple layers and gold jewelry. Her skin had a slight pink color to it and her large eyes were a medium brown, which was a strange combination, but it looked stunning and over all, she had a very kind and intelligent appearance to her.

Yin hadn't even noticed that she had taken a seat across from the woman who was looking at her over a long scroll.

"Oh, nothing." Yin eventually answered.

"Nothing doesn't cause a lady like you to come all the way here." The woman reasoned.

"What do you mean?"

"For one, you don't have a scroll to read. So you don't come here to read. That means that you don't come here often and if you don't come here often, then you mustn't be a scholar. That means that you're someone's wife. Judging by your pink eyes, you're upset. If you're upset, then something's not right. If something's not right, then it's wrong. Am I not correct? So what's wrong?"

Yin was left silenced for a moment. She had never met someone that was so upfront and this kind of strange before.

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?" She questioned, trying not to be too rude.

"I'm Cai Wenji, Cao Pi's tutor."

"His _tutor_?" She repeated with clear suspicion in her voice.

"Yes." Cai Wenji simply answered.

"Well, I'm Cao Pi's wife and he never mentioned you before."

A little color flashed Cai Wenji's cheeks, leaving Yin even more worried.

"Oh, he probably wouldn't. I simply give him some advice once in a while is all."

"What kind of advice?" She pressed.

Cai Wenji seemed a little puzzled by all the questions, but answered them anyway. Probably because Yin was coming off as the over controlling wife that had to know about her husband's every action.

"At the border, I advised him that that Jiang Wei might start a campaign against Wei…"

Jiang Wei was the late Zhuge Liang's apprentice, but that's not what concerned her.

"Hold on, he took you to the border?"

Why would he take Cai Wenji and not her?

She didn't give Cao Pi's 'tutor' time to answer though. She leaped up from the chair and rushed out. She nearly ran down the halls back to their chambers. When she burst through the door, she found he was gone, probably to another stupid council meeting. Unless Shu was planning an attack on Wei, what could there possibly be for the council to discuss anymore!

x

Later that evening, the time came when Cao Pi should have returned to their spot in the gardens, but he didn't. So Yin and the children had their dinner alone.

When she and the maids had them to bed, it was well passed sun down.

These events only put her in a sour mood. By the time she went to their chambers to go to bed, Cao Pi still hadn't returned. When she got in the bed, she found a piece of paper on her pillow. It was probably from when she threw the poem book. So she put it on the side table next to her bed and went to sleep.

x

In the morning, she woke up alone. Unless Cao Pi came to bed after she went to sleep and left before she woke up, there was no way that she could have possibly missed him. Either that, or something was wrong. She pushed the sheets off and found that piece of paper on the side table. Now that it was light out, she saw that it was too big to be from his little black leather poem book. So she picked it up and read it.

_My dear Yin,_

_By the time you get this, I'll already be gone. Shu is plotting against Wei and I have to stop them once and for all. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to tell you, but I had to leave the city quietly and in the middle of the night so any Shu spies wouldn't hear of it. I would have told you, but the decision was made yesterday during the council meeting. I'm sorry about earlier, I said things I shouldn't have. We'll discuss it when I get back._

_I love you my flower,_

_Cao Pi_

Yin lowered the letter down away from her face and put it back on the table feeling rather selfish. She let out a sigh and stood up to get dressed.

She made a point of finding Cai Wenji and apologizing for her behavior yesterday. Cai Wenji brushed it off and assured her that she understood. However, Yin still felt bad. So she invited Wenji to come and have some midafternoon tea with her and the Liu ladies.

They had their tea in the gardens and watched as Rui and Dong Xiang played around the cherry tree. Yin had Xie cradled in his little rocking bed next to her. She rocked the bed back and forth with one hand and held her tea in the other. They discussed Wei's problem with Shu for a while. Then they asked Wenji about how she ended up here in Luoyang. As it turns out, Wenji was kidnapped by the northern nomads. While she was there, he had been forced into marriage and had two sons. It had been Cao Cao to save her. When she came here, she had to leave her sons behind. Then she married one of the men here, who died recently. She was very talented in music and poetry. She was the one to teach Cao Pi to write poetry and to write in general. So Yin had Wenji to thank for Cao Pi's perfect handwriting.

After tea, the ladies went their separate ways. Len and Jia took charge of the children to give Yin some time to herself.

Now that Sima Yi was gone, she was free to roam certain parts of the castle she hadn't be able to before. For one, it wasn't a risk to go to the scroll room, which she probably shouldn't have done yesterday. She was also free to go to the wing that Sima Yi's chambers were in, which was also the same wing as both Lady Liu's were in. Her newly found and yet simple freedoms put her in a good mood for the rest of the day.

x

A few weeks and a few letters later, she and Cao Pi had managed to come to an understanding. They had both gone a little too far when neither one of them wanted to lose the originally light hearted argument. Everything settled back to normal again, except now she had become friends with Cai Wenji. Together, they started a home for widowed women to stay at while they looked for work. This was first thing she had done to help a massive number of people since she helped with the famine relief back in Zhangshan. It felt good to help the people again. Although, they were _her_ people, not just _the_ people now that she was the wife of the emperor. Oh well. It didn't really matter that much.

However, this peaceful time was short lived. In the middle of the night, Yin was woken by her door bursting open.

"Yin! Lady Yin, you must get out of here NOW!"

She rolled over and rubbed her eyes.

"Why?"

"Cao Pi was defeated by Shu. He couldn't get his supplies to the main camp and Jiang Wei ambushed him!"

Cai Wenji began running about the room grabbing things and gathering them next to her on the bed.

"Cao Pi had no choice but to go to the nearest city. So he won't be able to stop Shu from coming straight to us. You have to get out of here now, before it's too late!"

Yin launched herself from the bed and began to stuff everything Cai Wenji had brought into a bag.

"I had your maids get the horses ready. You'll bring the children and meet them in the stable."

"What about you?"

They gathered the two sacks and began running down the halls.

"What about you? Wenji, what about you!"

"I'm staying."

Yin grabbed the scholar's arm before they went into Rui's room.

"You can't." She whispered.

"It'll be fine, Yin. Jiang Wei won't harm a tutor, but the wife of the emperor and mother of his heir not to mention that the heir is here…" Wenji didn't finish her sentence.

She didn't need to either. Yin knew what was happening. Once again she found herself in a position that she would be used as leverage against Cao Pi and Rui would be killed. Only this time, she found out about it fast enough that she was still able to get the children and herself out.

However, there was still one problem.

"But where will we go?" She asked since she had no idea about what to do.

"Go to Xuchang."

Her heart missed a beat at the very thought of being in the same castle as Lady Guo again.

"I can't!"

"Why?"

"Wenji, you're my friend, but I can't tell you. Just trust me. I can't go to Xuchang."

Lady Guo was in Xuchang. She would be as good as dead if she went there. Only, Wenji didn't know that. The tudor had idea as to the nature of the past she had shared with that whore

However, Wenji eventually gave in and answered;

"Alright, go wherever you think you'll be safe, but it has to be far, far away from here."

Yin nodded as Cai Wenji opened Rui's door. They went inside. Yin went to her son to get him up while Wenji began to gather some of his things.

"Momma, what's going on?" Rui's tired voice asked.

She pulled the sheets off of him.

"Quiet Rui, we just have to go on a journey."

"Why?"

"Because we need to leave home for a while." She told him as she picked him up.

"When will we be back?"

"I don't know." She answered.

She held him on her hip and followed Wenji out of the room. They went to the next door, which was Dong Xiang's room. They opened it and began the same routine. Wenji packed some clothes while Yin put Rui down and picked up Dong Xiang. Dong Xiang began to fuss that she was waken up so early. Rui was never more than half a step from her side.

Yin looked up at Wenji who nodded to tell her that she was ready. Yin looked down at Rui and back up at Wenji. In the tudor's perspective, Rui were simply her lord's, not hers and she was only saving him because he was heir to the throne.

Rui was everything to her, as were Dong Xiang and Xie. She would die before she would left one of harm's nasty fingers touch them.

Then they went into Xie's room.

"I'll take Dong Xiang. You get Xie."

Yin handed the girl to Wenji who held her with one arm and the sacks in the other. Yin shoved a few of Xie's things in the sack. Then she went and picked him up. He began to cry angrily. Yin patted him on the back and tried to sooth him, but considering that they were running, it was hard to keep the baby quiet. She followed Wenji down the halls and Rui followed right next to her.

While they ran through the courtyard, she saw countless others running and crying in terror. Soldiers tried to assemble under the command of their superiors, but with the nonfighting members of the court running in panic all around them, that alone was an uphill battle.

They made it to the stables to find that Shao Len and Jing Jia had prepared Cloud, Shadow and Storm. Wenji stuffed the sacks into the saddle bags. Len climbed up into Storm's saddle. Jia mounted on Cloud and Yin got up on Shadow. She held Xie in one arm and took the reins in the other. Wenji put Rui in the saddle in front of Jia. Then she put Dong Xiang in front of Len. Both maids wrapped an arm around the child and used the opposite hand to hold the reins.

"How can I ever thank you, Wenji?" Yin asked.

Wenji gave her a weak smile.

"Survive."

Yin nodded. Then she turned Shadow in the direction of the front gate. She sent Shadow off at a very controlled and collected lope. The gate had been opened to let the soldiers out, but there were more common people running through them than soldiers. The town was in just as much chaos as the castle had been. She wanted to stop and tell people to lock themselves in their houses. She wanted to tell them to go to the lowest level of their homes and surrender to any soldier that forced their way in, but she couldn't. She didn't have time. Knowing for how Shu 'fought for the people', they wouldn't harm the citizens of Luoyang.

The three women rode out of the city gates and made for the northern woods since Shu would be coming from south west. Once they got a few miles from the city, they could no longer hear the chaos. So they stopped the horses to let them catch their breath.

"What do we do now?" Jia asked.

"We can't go to Xuchang," Yin answered. "and Hefei is too far away."

"Where's Cao Pi?" Jia asked.

"I don't know. Wenji said he's gone to the nearest town he could, but I don't know which one that is." Yin explained.

"We could go to Yecheng." Len offered.

Yin had no desire to stay at the town that she had been taken to to be married Yuan Xi.

"No, I don't want to go there. It's too far anyway and so is the Guandu castle."

In reality, the distance was only one of many reasons not to go there. Some of the people there might still be loyal to the Yuans, as crazy as that sounded. If she went there and that was the case, they would turn her and the children over to Shu for betraying Yuan Shao all those years ago.

"Then what do we do?"

Yin thought for a long moment.

"I want to go home!" Rui whined.

"We can't, Rui." Jia soothed.

"Why!"

"It's not safe."

"Yin, wherever we go, we have to decide now. We can't stay here. The Shu scouts will be circling the city to look for any approaching Wei soldiers and they could find us." Len told her.

Yin let out a long breath. She made her decision, but she didn't like it. However, it was their only choice. There was nowhere that was safe for Lady Yin. Any town could have any number of Shu spies. They had to disappear for a while. At least until they could get to Cao Pi.

"There's nowhere that I can go. If anyone hears of my whereabouts, then Shu will send their soldiers after us." She told them.

"So what do we go, Yin?" Jia asked.

"Start by calling me 'Zhen Ji'." She announced. "We're going to Zhongshan."

The two maids stared at her.

"We're going home?" Jia said in almost a whisper as if she was too scared to say it any louder.

She nodded. Jia let out a happy cry.

"We're going home!"

Jia began riding north. Len followed close behind, but Yin took a moment to herself before letting Shadow trot to catch up. She was Zhen Ji again. She was going to see the family she hadn't heard from in over five years. Not only that, but she was going to see them again after they had been told that she was dead two years ago. She was going home alive and well. She didn't know who would be getting the bigger shock from this, her or her family.

"Zhongshan is days away." Len told her.

"Yes, it is, but we can cut the trip in half by staying off the roads. All we have to do is ride straight north. Then we can swing east when we reach Ji province, but by the time we get there, we'll know right where we are." Zhen reasoned.

All three of them were very familiar with Ji province. As long as they weren't turned around in a thick wood, they'd be able to find their way to Zhongshan.


	4. Return to Zhongshan

Hello. I'm finally on summer break. So I'm going to be able to write my stories until my fingers bleed! Mwahahaha! Special thanks to those who reviewed, Snook24 and xLadyxLionheart. You guys/girls are the best!

vampiregirl2009 wolfgirl77769, I know that you can't have your own account because quote 'you brother will kill you'. I'm not going to tell you to forget what he thinks and make one if you want, because I'm sure it wouldn't happen. So if you want a Xing Cai/Sun Quan story, why don't you write it, email it to me and I'll post it for you (I'll give you credit as the author before every chapter and in the summary). Just think about it.

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Return to Zhongshan

They traveled nonstop for a few days. It was only thanks to Wenji that they had been able to. She'd had the sense to pack them food as well as a few changes in clothing.

Considering they were traveling with three children, they were making considerably good time. When compared to how long it took an army to get anywhere, they were making extraordinary time, but they didn't have to worry about making a small town for a camp and making sure that everything was organized. The only thing that slowed them down was when they needed to stop and eat. Of course, their breaks would last a few hours longer for the children to sleep.

This would be so much easier if they could ride in a carriage. After a few more days, they let Rui and Dong Xiang ride on Cloud together while one of them would lead the mare. Zhen carried Xie and Jia rode Storm while she led Shadow at the same time.

After a week and a half, they reached Ji province. They found that they had gone slightly east during their travel and had to go west for a few hours before they would get to Zhongshan. By the time they reached Zhongshan, it was midmorning.

Then they reached her old home. It was just as she remembered it. The massive white house was located on the far end of town. The path leading to it was made of flat stones that had grass growing in the cracks between them. Peach trees grew along the side and back yards. The extended front yard was decorated by a white table and a few matching chairs that were laid out next to a large statue of a dragon. The stables were partially tucked behind a few trees.

Suddenly, there was a loud shout.

"Yu, get out here! You have to see this!"

"Ugh, here we go." Zhen Ji mumbled.

The front door swung open. Zhen Yu, her eldest brother, stood in the door way with a shocked expression on his face. His strong build remained as strong as it had been the day she last saw him, which had been on her wedding night when she had been married to Yuan Xi.

"Ji?" Yu doubtfully asked.

She gave him an attempt at a smile.

"We thought you were dead." He told her as he stepped down the front steps.

"Lady Zhen is. I had to die and take a new name so that I could go to Luoyang with Cao Pi and not worry about my enemies figuring out that I was still alive." She explained.

"Ji!"

The happy squeal came from inside the house. Zhen Rong, the loud sister, came running out.

"I knew it was you!"

But when Rong saw the children, she came to a halt with a shocked and yet delighted expression on her face.

"This is Cao Xie," Zhen told her. "and that's Dong Xiang and Cao Rui."

Then the other siblings came out and lastly, her father did too. That's when she realized how such a pathetic sight this must be. She was Cao Pi's wife. She was married to the new emperor of Cao Wei, the kingdom that consisted of the central plains and the northern territories. Yet here she was in torn and stained clothes with three young children, two horses of the imperial line, one of her own family and the two maids, homeless, tired and hungry.

"We need your help."

x

Zhen Yao, being the youngest brother, took the horses into the stables and settled them in their stalls. Len and Jia took the children to Zhen Ji's old chambers for a much needed nap. Zhen Tuo, being the cook of the family, helped the servants prepare some tea and food. Zhen Yi, her father, took her to the back yard where they could discuss some things in private.

"Ji, what happened?" He asked.

She wasn't quite sure where to begin. After all, she didn't know what they knew. So she started at the beginning.

"After the wedding, I found out that Yuan Shao was going to stab Cao Cao in the back by attacking him. So I warned his son, Cao Pi, about it."

"Why would you do such a thing! You betrayed the Yuans, the most fearsome family in all the land."

She paused before continuing.

"Yuan Shao left for Guandu. He left everyone in Yecheng to die and… I knew that Cao Pi could help Cao Cao if I told him."

"Why were you so concerned with Cao Cao?"

"It wasn't Cao Cao I was scared for, it was Cao Pi. Something inside told me that I had to warn him. I followed my gut instinct and he took me Xuchang. We were married a few days later. Rui was born, but after an attack on Hefei, Lady Guo came."

"Lady Guo?"

"His other wife."

An angry red flashed in her father's cheeks.

"You betrayed the Yuans to marry a man who already has another wife! How can he love you as much as you deserve if he already has a wife!"

Little did her father know, it was actually worse than that. Lady Guo was now Empress Guo and he was also married to two of former Emeror Xian's daughters.

"He doesn't love Lady Guo! She tried to kill me and use Rui as leverage against him to seize Xuchang with Cao Zhi, his younger brother and largest rival at the time. I got Rui out of the city, but I had to stay behind because we ran out of time. So I tried to make myself appear worthless to Cao Pi. They left me to kill myself, but I managed to escape by killing one of the guards. They thought it was me. So we let them think that so I could go to Luoyang and not have to worry about Guo anymore." She told her father.

"So what happened next? If you're here, then your happily ever after must not have lasted too long."

She was frustrated now. Her father clearly didn't understand life in the imperial court. He didn't understand that life was complicated there. Your life wasn't simply yours to live as you wanted to there. A part of her belonged to her sure, but a bigger part belonged to Cao Pi. It was her duty to provide him with sons, which she had done, twice over. Now it was her duty to protect them and raise them to be strong, like their father. So there was a piece of her that belonged to them. There was also a piece that belonged to the people. She may have forgotten, but it was also her duty to help them. Wenji reminded her of that. She wouldn't forget it again.

She snapped her mind back to the discussion before her.

"Shu attacked. Cao Pi went out to meet them, but he was defeated. Now Shu is marching on Luoyang. I had to get Rui out before they could use him as leverage against Cao Pi."

He father gave her another of his angry looks.

"So after five years of silence, you expect me to take you in? You never even sent us word of your survival."

It was true, she had given up on trying to send word to them, but they had given up too.

"I couldn't! Sima Yi's spies could have intercepted it and you haven't exactly been keeping me up to date with what's been going on around here."

"We thought you were dead!" He shouted. "We would have attended your funeral…"

"You didn't. If you had gone, then you would know that there was a double. They put her hair in front of her face and filled her mouth with rice so I couldn't complain in death. My legacy has been ruined forever. Everyone will remember Zhen Ji as the wife who killed herself and is forever cursed in the underworld."

"So then why did Cao Pi agree to it!"

"So that our story would be legitimate. If he buried me with honors then no one would believe he wanted me to kill myself." She paused for a long time. "It was a mistake to come here. Good bye, father."

She turned to leave, but her father stopped her.

"Ji, wait!"

She turned around to face him. The anger was gone from him.

"If Shu finds you, they'll kill you and the children. You can stay, but I'm not doing this for the emperor. I'm doing this for my daughter, because she needs my help and for my grandchildren, because they need a safe place to stay."

She smiled uncontrollably. Then ran over to her father and swung her arms around him.

"Thank you!"

x

When lunch came, Rui, Dong Xiang and Xie had all gotten in about three hours of sleep. Although none of them were quite up to their usual levels of energy, they were awake enough to eat.

It was almost like old times, before she was taken to Yecheng. Only this time, her children were here and… Dao! Zhen Dao wasn't here, neither was Wang Bo. When Wang Bo came to Xuchang, he told her that he and Dao had been married. He also told her that he wanted to be with her. So she doubted that they were still together. If they weren't, then wouldn't she be here?

"Where's Dao?" She asked aloud.

At the moment, she, Tuo, Rong and a few of the old servants were washing the dishes that were used for lunch. She rubbed them dry as she watched Rui and Dong Xiang play in the yard.

"She's with Wang Bo in their house. Yu went to go get them a few minutes ago." Tuo answered. "Did you know that they have a daughter now?"

She didn't answer.

"A terribly spoiled child too." Rong added.

"Her name's Ping Shi. Like it or not, but we are related to her." Tuo stated.

"I don't like it." Rong mumbled.

"Well, too bad, because I'm sure that they'll be coming to see Ji."

Ugh. Great! The last thing she wanted was to see the sister that stole her child hood sweet heart away from her and the man that wanted her to betray her husband and run away with him. She should have expected this, but it still managed to catch her off guard.

Then there was a sound coming from upstairs.

"Xie is awake." She stated.

She put down the cloth she was using to dry the dishes and went upstairs. She went through the old wood door and was almost stopped dead by the sight she saw. Everything in her room was exactly how she left it. She was barely twenty years old when she had last been here and yet everything was exactly the same way it had been left from her maiden years.

It had been Len and Jia to put Xie to bed, so this was the first time she went into her old chambers since she got here.

She forced herself back into reality and picked Xie up from the middle of her old bed. She held his front against her left shoulder and soothingly rocked him. She used a side to side swaying motion to rock him as she began moving around her room.

Her bed had been set along the far wall of the door. Her wardrobe was still filled with her old dresses. They formed a rainbow of colors. Gold, reds, blues, purples, whites and even a black one were there. Her old jewelry hung on some small hooks that were nailed into the doors of the wardrobe. Even a few pieces of her mother's old jewelry were there. There also were gold chains and small jeweled earrings, nothing like her jewelry back in Luoyang, but everything here made up what was left of her old life and that made it more precious to her than if she had gotten them as gifts from another wedding.

She had already had three weddings, two as Zhen Ji and one as Yin Ji. She couldn't imagine adding a fourth for any reason. Even though she and Cao Pi hadn't departed on a partially good note, there was no other man she could ever love. Not even Wang Bo and if he was going to try and sweep her off her feet while she was here, he was going to be left disappointed.

Then she came to her mirror. It was only half as long as the one in Luoyang, but that didn't matter. Her reflection looked tired and poorly groomed. Her hair was a mess and there was dirt on her face. Fixing all this now might look like she was dressing up for Wang Bo, but not cleaning up a little would be worse.

So when Xie was wide awake, she put him back on the bed and handed him one of her very old stuffed animals to play with she found in the back of her wardrobe. The animal was a soft panda bear with small buttons for eyes. Although it was more warn and cheaply made compared to the one he had in Luoyang, Xie grabbed it and stuffed one of the limbs in his mouth.

The panda would probably provide him with a few minutes of entertainment, so she figured that's all she had to get herself ready. So she undid her hair in a hurry. Then she put on one of her old dresses since they were more inconspicuous than the ones she brought from Luoyang. If she went around in one of those dresses, then it would be clear she was of some great importance.

She chose to wear one of her blue dresses. It was dark blue in color. The fabric was light weight so it wasn't really appropriate for autumn, but it wasn't one of those cool fall days out. So it was perfect, but she was simply pleased with herself that it still fit her like it used to before she had her three children.

Then she quickly combed her hair and pulled the top half of it away from her face, but her bangs and the shorter hair fell out of the tie and framed her face. Lastly, she used her old towel that was next to the empty basin to wipe her face.

When she turned back to Xie, she noticed that there was flat trunk under her bed. She pulled it out and flipped it open. Inside, she found all her old childhood things like her blankets and clothing.

Now she had more common looking clothing for Dong Xiang, blankets for Xie and some toys for Rui.

She gathered one of her old cool summer blankets and wrapped Xie in the white cloth. Then she picked him up and remembered to grab the panda. Then she went out of her room and followed the familiar hallway back to the stairs and down to steps into the sitting room. All the chairs and the sofa were all in the same place. Except now there was also a crib next to her mother's old rocking chair.

"Father had me bring it out from storage." Rong said as she came into the room.

"Thank you. Do you have an extra room for the children? Rui and Dong Xiang can share, but Xie should be separate from them. We can move the crib into my chambers. He doesn't sleep many hours in a row." She explained as she settled Xie into the crib.

"Rui and Dong Xiang can take Yu's old chambers."

"What do you mean 'old chambers'?"

"Ji, Yu is twenty-seven now. He got married three years ago. He just came for a visit today. He was going to go home tonight, but now I think he'll have Lan Hua come."

"Lan Hua? You mean the Lan Hua from down the road?"

Rong nodded.

"His wife, she's going to have a baby any day now."

The reality of how she'd been gone came like a weight crashing down on her.

"What else has changed?" She asked in a saddened tone.

"Wang Bo and Dao got married a few years ago."

She knew about that from Bo himself.

"How has that been going?"

She and Rong both took a seat on the sofa.

"It was fine at first, but then they started fighting a lot. So Bo left for a few weeks and when he came back, he and Dao made up and it's been going fine since."

Zhen Ji decided not to say that it was probably during those weeks that he came to Xuchang and tried to win her back.

"What about Yan?"

Rong smiled deviously.

"He and one of the local girls have been… well… getting along. When he goes out to help her father with some of the chores, it's usually sunset before he gets back."

She smiled. Yan was twenty-three now.

"Does he think she's the one?"

"He doesn't talk to anyone about it."

Yan was always fairly shy. It made sense that he wouldn't talk about it.

"What about Yao?" She asked.

"You know how Yao is. He's such a guy. Whenever a woman drops him a hint, he never notices or he misunderstands it."

"And Tuo?"

Rong laughed.

"If there was a man interested in her, she would tell him off just like she did to the others."

"What about you?"

Rong waved a hand.

"I'm only fifteen. I have plenty of time for that kind of stuff later."

Then the front door opened on the other side of the room from them. Yu came in first, followed by Wang Bo and lastly, Zhen Dao. Yu had a smile on his face. Bo looked shocked while Dao was unreadable.

Zhen Ji's stomach tightened.


	5. Life as a Common Woman

Sorry for not updating sooner, but the overflowing well that was once my creativity is now dry. So if any of you have any ideas for this story whatsoever, message me or leave it in your review. I would appreciate it very much!

Vampire Wolfgirl, I am NOT, I repeat am NOT going to write that story. I simply have too much to do already. Write it yourself and email it to me! That is the extent of my offer.

Enjoy!

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Life as a Common Woman

Zhen Ji and Zhen Rong stood up to greet Zhen Dao and Wang Bo, who had just walked into the room.

"Dao, it's good to see you again." Rong started.

"Yes…" Dao gave her a look. "It's been quite a while."

Bo didn't say a word, he was staring at the crib. Dao noticed and commented on it.

"Is that… your son?" She choked out the last part.

"Yes." Zhen Ji answered before she turned to the crib and picked Xie up. "This is Cao Xie…"

"The prince of Wei." Dao finished for her in an irritated tone. "I never thought that I would meet the emperor while he was still so young."

"Actually, he's not the future emperor, Rui is." She corrected. "Xie here is destined to be a great prince and general of the Wei dynasty."

"Rui?" Her sister repeated.

"Yes, he's my older son." She explained.

Everyone found a seat. She and Rong sat together while Dao and Bo sat next to each other on two separate chairs. Yu found a seat all to himself on the sofa. Tuo, Yan, Yao and her father all flooded in and occupied the other seats. All the Zhens were back together. Only, Cao Pi needed to be here since he was part of the Zhen family now.

"So, Ji, you must tell us everything about your life with Cao Pi. I see that he was given you two sons, but what else?"

Zhen wasn't sure she liked the tone Dao was using. Dao was clearly annoyed by the fact that Ji had sons and she didn't, but that was no excuse to show the hostility she was. That's when she realized that their daughter, Wang Ping Shi, wasn't here. Where was she?

"Well…" Zhen wasn't really sure where to start and no bright idea came to her mind so she just began to talk. "We live in Luoyang now that it's the capital. Cao Pi usually has council meetings."

"How long do those last?" Tuo cut in.

"They're usually through by midafternoon." She answered. "If not sooner."

"So what do you do all day?" Rong asked with an excited sense of curiosity.

"I usually care for the children, but lately Cai Wenji and I have been working at a home for families that lost their husbands and fathers. We feed them and give them some money."

"Who's Cai Wenji?" Yan asked her.

"She was Cao Pi's tutor. She's a really interesting woman."

Then Zhen remembered how Wenji stayed in Luoyang and she hoped that nothing happened to her.

"Anyway," She continued. "Now that the war with Eastern Wu is over, things haven't been quite as exciting as they used to be. During the Battle of Hefei…"

"Were you there!" Rong gasped.

"No, not at Hefei, but I was at the Battle of Guandu, Hebei, Chibi and the Wuzhang plains."

She decided not to mention the battle of Xuchang. She had already told her father about that one and she didn't want to get into it again.

She suddenly became aware that her family was watching her like she was a famous story teller in front of a fire. In a way, she was. No one from Zhongshan had a straight connection to the imperial court before. Some of the men had been in battles, but most of them had been too scared to talk of it. Zhen Ji was too hard of a woman to be traumatized by witnessing death.

"Don't you have any friends in Luoyang?" Rong questioned.

"Yes, there's the Liu ladies."

"Who are they?"

"They're former Emperor Xian's two daughters. He married them to Cao Pi when he pronounced himself the new emperor as a sign of submission."

Everyone gave her a distressed look. Her breath caught in her throat when she remembered that she wasn't doing to talk about the sisters.

Her and her big mouth!

She quickly spoke again to make the recovery.

"What? That's a good thing. If Emperor Xian submitted himself to Cao Pi, then that meant that Cao Pi had the only legitimate claim to the land. It proved that he is the new emperor."

There was a pause until her father eventually asked;

"How many wives does Cao Pi have?"

"Just me and Lady Guo. The Liu ladies are only consorts." She explained.

Ugh. Wives and consorts. This was starting to look bad, but only to those who didn't understand. Which was everyone save her, Len and Jia.

"And you're okay with that!" Tuo demanded as if she were insane.

"Guo's been ordered to stay in Xuchang and the Liu ladies are only a token of submission. Sure Cao Pi makes sure that they're comfortable in Luoyang, but they don't mean anything to him."

She would have known if they had or if something did happen. She slept in Cao Pi's bed every night.

There was another long silence that her father eventually broke.

"So… none of them have children?"

She was about to say that Guo does since she couldn't forget about Nu Ming. If she didn't tell them about Nu Ming and they already knew, then they would think that she didn't and Cao Pi had stabbed her in the back. Then they would think that Cao Pi was some kind of jerk that didn't tell her. If she did talk about Nu Ming, then she would have to explain that the girl was Cao Zhi's child, which was secret information. If she didn't explain that part of it, then they would think that she didn't care that Cao Pi had fathered a child with another woman.

"The Liu ladies don't, they're my friends and I know that none of them have feelings for Cao Pi."

"It's strange to hear someone talking about the Emperor's daughters so casually." Tuo stated.

"Former Emperor." Yu corrected.

Zhen breathed out a sigh of relief not no one seemed to noticed that she didn't mention Guo in her latest statement. Dodged that one!

"And speaking of emperors, here comes the next one." Rong announced as Rui came bouncing into the room.

He ran over to her and climbed up on her lap.

"Who are all these people, momma?" He asked.

She lovingly wrapped an arm around him and used the other to point.

"Rui, that's your Aunt Rong, Tuo and Dao. That's your Uncle Bo, Yan, Yu and Yao and that's your Grandpa Yi."

"Rui," Dao repeated. "is his intellect as sharp as his name implies?"

The name Rui meant 'sharp intellect'. Cao Pi had chosen it because he wanted his heir to be well rounded in his knowledge. Not just some mindless warrior or a super genius who didn't have the courage to fight in a war.

"He can already ride by himself, but we usually lead him around the courtyard. Cao Pi takes him out for a ride through the woods when he can."

"I can ride Cloud all by myself, but Daddy usually has me ride Storm."

"Storm?" Her father asked.

"Cao Pi's first horse."

"So, you still have Cloud?" Yu asked.

She nodded.

"Yes, she's the grey mare. Storm's the grey stallion and Shadow's the black mare we took here. She's one of Shadow Runner's foals. Shadow Runner was Cao Cao's horse from the imperial line."

"Wow, we have an imperial horse in the stable." Yao stated.

"Two actually, Storm's also from one of former Emperor Xian's mares."

Then she turned to Rui on her lap.

"Where's Dong Xiang?"

"She's with Jia outside." He simply answered.

"Who's Dong Xiang?" Bo asked, speaking for the first time.

Zhen Ji looked up at him.

"My daughter."

Bo looked down at his feet while Dao let an annoyed sound escape from her.

She felt as if she were dangling the future Wang Bo wanted in front of him, but just out of his reach. Should be feeling guilty for enjoying it? She certainly was, but only to a certain extent. Even though she did enjoy it a little, she wasn't about to go rubbing it in his face either. That would be childish and she was above that. She also felt bad that Bo was stuck with Dao. However, she also hated him for letting her go so easily when Yuan Shao came for her and then trying to win her back at Xuchang a few years later after Rui was already born!

x

Dao and Bo left later that evening. By then, it was time to put the children to bed. Rui took Yu's old room while Dong Xiang took Dao's. Zhen Ji took out some of the things from the sack that Wenji had stuffed and found that she even managed to get each of their favorite stuffed animals. Rui had a short legged white pony that he had named Storm. Dong Xiang had a soft pink colored bird she called 'birdie' and her yellow silk blanket she referred to as her 'bee'. Xie had two different pandas now, neither one of them had a name, yet.

With Len and Jia's help, it wasn't too hard to get them to bed. Of course, this was thought before she tried to get Xie to sleep. Zhen Yan and her father set up the old family crib in her chambers. It was the same crib that all of the Zhen siblings had slept in as babies. So it had significant sentimental value to them all. However, that didn't seem to make Xie's opinion of the crib any better. He cried for half an hour straight, so Zhen Ji eventually resorted to taking Xie into her bed and cradling him to sleep herself. It worked well enough that Xie only woke three times during the night, versus spending more time awake than asleep back in Luoyang on those nights that he refused to sleep.

After her half day back home, she was ready for bed. She was so ready for some peace and quiet. She was so ready to sleep in a bed again. Everything was perfect, except for Xie's occasional awakening, but considering they were in a strange place full of strange people, she couldn't really blame the child.

x

The next morning, Zhen woke up with the bright sun on her face and her sheets over her body. For a moment, she thought she was in Luoyang again, but when she saw Xie and not Cao Pi sleeping next to her, she knew she was in Zhongshan.

If there was ever a moment that Xie looked like Cao Pi, it was now, but that was because his eyes were closed. Xie had her eyes and her fair skin, but everything else was given to him by Cao Pi.

Being as careful as she could to not wake the baby, Zhen slowly got out of the bed and began preparing for her day. She did her hair in a ponytail, slipped into a dress and put on some low heel shoes. She found that her basin had been filled with water, probably by either Len or Jia since the other servants here weren't as formal and efficient in their duties. Which was a refreshing change, but she still enjoyed Len and Jia's knowledge of how to do things.

She poured the water into the bowl and washed. The moderately warm water was considerably dirty by the time she was done. By then, Xie was awake. So she changed him into some clean clothing and picked him up to take down stairs.

She noticed the change from being the emperor's wife to being a common woman immediately. For one, her maids didn't follow her everywhere anymore. Len and Jia had enough to do already. For one, they had their own reunions. Two, they were also going to have to settle into a new schedule.

Another difference for Zhen was that she had to help with some of the chores, but it was good to actually do some work again. So she didn't mind. She was reminded of when she first went to Yecheng and how she had thought everyone there seemed to be waiting for death with how they never actually did anything. Yet before she realized it, she had also fallen into that do nothing attitude.

On top of that, her concern for the people had faded. Before being married to Yuan Xi, she had provided the people of Zhongshan with grain and supplies during the famine. After being married to Xi, the only thing she really did was start that home for widows and orphans.

However, could her contributions in battle count as helping the people? She decided not to linger on it. Her duty had called her away from battle. After all, as the emperor's wife, she was to provide him with an heir. Which she did, but at the time, it had stopped her from going to the battle field.

Hold on, she wasn't going to linger on it!

She brought her mind back to reality and away from her own thoughts.

At the moment, she was sitting on a chair in the sitting room with her teacup held on her lap. Xie was napping in the rocking crib. Rui and Dong Xiang were sitting in the middle of the floor with their stuffed animals. For being brother and sister, they got along quite well. Dong Xiang could be hot tempered at times, but Rui never let her get the better of him. That skill would come in handy for him later on in his life. After all, he was the future emperor.

Her father came into the room and took a seat next to her.

"Just think, this time yesterday, we all thought you were dead and here you are and here are my grandchildren. We'd heard that Cao Pi had a son, but we didn't think that he'd also had a daughter and a second son."

She was confused as to where her father was going with this. So she decided not to comment quite yet.

"We'd also heard that Cao Pi's other wife had a daughter right about the time Rui was born."

She cringed. Now she was going to have to explain about Guo Nuwang and Cao Zhi's relationship which she couldn't do. Her only other choice was to pretend that Nu Ming actually was Cao Pi's child. However, that information was simply taken for granted. She knew better and that was always a comfort for her, but they didn't know about that.

Instead of answering the question, she turned the tables completely.

"What's your point?"

Now she had put her father on the defensive.

"My point is that a man only has room in his heart for one woman. How can Cao Pi love you if he's also married to the two Liu's and this Guo Nuwang?"

Her father managed to put her on the defensive once again. Now she knew where she got her argument skills from, but she wasn't going to back down.

"Cao Pi doesn't love Guo." She simply said.

"He had a daughter with her." He father pointed out, not knowing the real facts, but unfortunately, she couldn't correct him or Cao Pi's reputation would suffer for it.

After all, everyone thought that Nu Ming was his. If they found out she wasn't, then they would think that he couldn't hold on to a woman that had been given to him. Then they would suspect that Zhen's children might not be Cao's. The chance of that was already bad enough with Rui being born a month early, eight months after the wedding, not nine. Whispers might even start that he loved in the way that Yuan Xi loved Lang Shui, his strategist. Zhen couldn't let that happen simply so that her father would feel better about her situation.

"How do you know he doesn't love her?" He pressed.

"He showed me and when we went to Luoyang, he didn't have Guo come with."

"Do you even know where he is now?" Zhen Yi challenged.

"No. It's like I told you. We got word of Shu's victory, so we fled and I haven't gotten word since. Once I learn what's going on, I'll decide what to do."

"You'll go back to him?"

"Yes." She answered without hesitation.

Her father didn't look pleased, but he wasn't exactly in a position to criticize her plan. After all, he didn't exactly fight to keep her in Zhongshan five years ago either. So he had no right to keep her here now.

"I'm going to go for a walk." She announced. "Send for Jia to watch the children, please."

"No need. I'll watch them." Her father told her.

"Thank you."

With that being said, she stood up and moved out the door. The cool autumn air pierced through her dress and gave her a chill. Her simple navy blue dress wasn't much. It did have long sleeves to cover her arms, but it also had a slit that traveled up her thigh which did allow for longer strides.

The midday sun shined brightly overhead, but some clouds moved in and covered the entire sky. It gave everything a flat light and there were no shadows anywhere. A cool breeze ruffled the leaves which lined the road she was walking on.

She heard a noise ahead. When she looked up, she Wang Bo walking toward her.


	6. Still Empress

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Have lots of fun and be carfeul with your fireworks!

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Still Empress

What in the name of the gods could he want? He had his chance with her and he threw it away for Dao and then rubbed his decision in her face on her wedding night to Yuan Xi. Being forced to marry a perfect stranger who turned out to be a boy lover was bad enough, but then her former love rubbed his decision to reject her and take her sister instead right in her face. Then on top of everything else, he tried to take her back. After Zhen had found her happiness, Bo returned because Dao didn't give him any sons. She wondered in who the failure laid.

Zhen stood tall with an expressionless face as Bo approached her.

"Zhen…" He started.

"I may not be in a castle and living under a different name, but I am still your empress." She interrupted.

Bo expression didn't change. He simply bowed down briefly, but long enough to say;

"Empress Zhen."

Then he stood up again. Her eyes may be level with his chin, but she was standing taller.

"I came to talk to you."

"Talk." She responded.

"Don't speak to me as if I'm another one of your messenger boys."

She raised her chin so that her eyes were looking down at him.

"I suppose it is incorrect to talk to you as if you were a messenger. Last time I checked, you failed to carry my message to my family to tell them to come and visit me. No messenger, not matter how amateur does that, especially when the message isn't written. You must have lost it somewhere in your pathetic mind."

She turned to leave, but Bo grabbed her arm and held it tightly.

"I didn't send the message because I knew it would get the family killed. Don't you even realize how dangerous politics are?"

"I do, but you clearly don't."

In less time than it would take to blink, she raised the dagger she had subtly pulled out from the front of her dress and raised it to his nape.

"It would be wise not to underestimate me again." She advised.

"You wouldn't. Not someone you love." He told her, referring to the blade that was an inch from his windpipe.

"Lov_ed_. Not love." She corrected as she pressed the edge of the dagger into his skin. "And if you don't think I won't do it, then you're as stupid as you are pathetic."

Bo let her go. She lowered the dagger away from his throat. Then she turned and went back into the house. She stuffed the dagger into the sheath that was hidden between her beast and under arm.

"Zhen," Bo called after her.

She stopped, but didn't turn around. Instead, she looked over her shoulder to see him from the corner of her eye.

"I was sent here to tell you that there's a general here to see you."

Zhen didn't respond and walked through the doorway into the house. So much for her walk.

Who could the general be? No one from Shu would know she was here and Wei was too busy down south. They had to be from the capital. Only a general from Luoyang would even know that she was here. Then who?

Zhang Liao had gone with Cao Pi. As did Cao Ren. Those were the only living generals she trusted. If it wasn't one of them, she would find herself running down the road with her children in her arms very soon.

x

Zhen was sitting with her father in the sitting room. Xie was in her arms as she sat on one of the chairs. He father sat across from her.

"Who came from the capital?"

"I don't know." She answered. "I only know that they are a general."

"And… you know all the generals?"

"Of course. Cao Pi has dinner with his generals every once in a while and I join him."

"I thought you said that he had dinner with you and the children."

"Whenever he can, he does, but he holds fests like any other ruler. On those nights, he and I eat with the generals and their wives."

It was then that she decided that her father would never understand life at the imperial court. To him, a man was supposed to come home to his wife every night and dine with her and the dozen children she gave him. He didn't understand that at the capital, she was always watched. Humors were always spreading and there was no such thing as being alone. He didn't understand political games or power tricks like she did. In reality, that's all the Liu ladies were when they were given to Cao Pi, a political trick of the former emperor and power games of Cao Pi's, but her father would never see it that way.

"The generals only have one wife?" He father asked with a raised eyebrow.

Before she could respond, he interrupted her.

"Listen to me _only one_ wife. I've been listening to your stories of polygamy for too long."

He got up and left.

Zhen's face had turned the color of blood. No one here understood. They were such simple folk. They didn't understand anything about what it took for them to be able to live these simple lives. If it weren't for Cao Pi, their lives would be much harder. If Sima Yi took over, they would probably all be executed just for being her family. If Cao Pi didn't have such loyal soldiers that would willingly lay down their lives for him, her brothers would see the front lines of battle just as she had.

Zhen put Xie in the crib next to her, stood up and moved over to the window. She watched as her sisters played music while her grown brothers sparred like amateur soldiers. None of the soldiers of Wei made the mistakes her brothers did. When she was first taken to be married to Yuan Xi, she remembered how she thought her brothers were such amazing fighters. Now that she saw what real fighters were, she saw her brothers as no more than potential amateur soldiers. Before, they had been heroes, now they were common men.

So much had changed sense she left. Life here had gone on without her. She knew that it would, but a part of her still expected that it wouldn't change, at least, not this much.

Rong came into the kitchen to get a pitcher of wine.

"Rong, why didn't you ever write to me?" She asked before her sister left.

Rong stopped in her tracks and turned to face her.

"We did."

"I only received two letters."

"Well, I wrote a letter every week. Bo always took it to post for me."

Zhen froze.

"Bo took it?"

"Yes, he's friends with the local post master. It always made me sad when Bo would come home every day for months and say that you hadn't sent any news. After a while, we all just stopped writing. We thought that you were too angry at us all to respond. Then we heard that you were dead and Bo never went to the post master after that."

That explained everything.

Without a word, Zhen turned toward the door.

"Zhen?"

She didn't stop. She swung the door open and slammed it behind her. Rage beyond measure flowed in her veins as she marched down the road.

Wang Bo, she should have known. How would he have even known that she had moved from Yuan Shao's castle to Xuchang if the letters hadn't gone through like she had suspected for so long? How was it that he was the one her family sent to see her and not one of her brothers? Why was it that he had been alone when he came to Xuchang?

He probably read every single letter that she had wrote to her family and every letter that her family wrote to her before burning them. The thought made another wave of rage course through her and made her walk faster.

There were a few members from her family following her down the road including Rong and her brothers. She didn't speak a word to any of them. They all asked her what was wrong and that they hadn't seen her this angry sense one of the neighbors killed their dog for digging in their garden. They would soon see what was wrong and that it was a lot bigger than a pet dog.

She spotted Bo in front of his house. He was planting new flowers to the side of the door way. He spotted the parade and stood up. He stretched his back as Zhen approached him.

"Come to scold me in front of your siblings so they can see how powerful you are?" He mocked.

Before she even had time to come to a halt, she punched him in the jaw. He fell backwards.

"Zhen, have you lost your mind?" Yan demanded.

"Where are my letters!" She screeched.

"You can't possibly believe that he has them."

"Where are they!"

Dao came running around the house from the backyard.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Thier father came running up to them, followed by her other sisters.

Zhen kneeled down to Bo's level.

"If you don't give me those letters, I swear to the gods that I will gut you alive." She hissed before she stood up to continue. "You are friends with the post master. You were the only one who could have stolen them. Why did you do it? Were you disgusted with the idea of your perfect family having a missing sister off in the royal court? Did you want my family to forget about me so that you wouldn't have to remember me?"

"Yes!"

Zhen turned her deathly glare to Dao who had answered her question.

"He doesn't have the letters. I had Bo take them to the post master to be sent, but before they were, I would steal them and burn them. That way, the post master could tell anyone that asked that he had sent the letter. I would also burn the ones _they_ sent."

She pointed to the group behind Zhen.

Zhen took a step towards Dao.

"Why?"

"Because we're better off without you!"

"How dare you say that!" Her father roared.

"Because it's the truth!" Dao defended. "Ever sense that crazy old man prophesized that Zhen was born for great things she had always been your favorite! She can dance, paint and play the flute like her mother used to. You also gave her mother's necklace."

Zhen put her hand of the jade necklace. She was her mother's only daughter.

"What's that to you? She wasn't your mother, _half_-sister."

"He loved your mother more than mine! It's common knowledge. You've had everything given to you sense that stupid prophecy, a husband, a castle, a kingdom and your children! You've never had to earn anything! Everywhere you go you bring trouble. We don't need you here!"

"We want her here!" Rong screamed. "She's our sister!"

"_Half_-sister, she said it herself." Dao retorted before turning back to Zhen.

Before Dao could speak, Zhen did.

"You don't even know what it means to fight for something! I was taken away by the Yuans. You say it didn't fight, I helped kill them to get away. That's the reason I have the husband I do now and the castle. I almost died giving birth to Rui. I had to fight to keep it and give him life too. I've had to fight to keep him alive. I've had to fight at Chi Bi and Wuzhang for our kingdom. It's you that never fought for anything!"

Dao grinned.

"Oh yeah? Who do you think it was that told Yuan Shao about how pretty you are? Of course, it wasn't hard to convince him to take you to secure an alliance with Zhongshan, but getting him to agree on letting Yuan Xi have you was a little harder. He wanted to give you to his older son, but I knew how Xi loved men. I didn't want him to give you a child. I wanted you to live alone, just like I did when you had Bo."

Zhen's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe it.

She looked at Bo. He was in the same state of shock that everyone else was in. She wondered what parts of all this were all new information for him, but only for a moment before the rage at Dao returned.

"How could you do such a thing, Dao?" Their father whispered.

"Because Zhen had everything then and she still has it all! She even had Bo! Well, he's mine now."

"You bartered Zhen away so that you could have Bo?"

Everyone stared at Dao. She smiled proudly. Now Zhen believed it.

"Yes."

Zhen spun to Bo.

"Did you know this?"

He nodded.

"Yes, I knew everything, but that she also arranged for Yuan Xi to have you so that you would be childless."

"And you let it happen?" She demanded.

He merely nodded. Zhen held her breath out of fear that she was going to scream. Her face was probably the same color as Wu's banner. Her head felt as if it would fall off from her shoulders and then explode. Her entire body shacked. Her hands were made into such tight fists that her knuckles lost their color.

She turned to Dao who was smiling victoriously. No, Dao was not going to win. She was not going to hold this victory over her.

She approached Dao with the tone of death itself in her voice.

"If you were in the court, I would have you beheaded."

"Too bad, but now you know what it's like to lose to the better sister."

Zhen restrained from ringing Dao's neck.

"You haven't won, Dao."

Dao raised her chin to challenge her.

"If you had," She continued. "Bo wouldn't have come to Xuchang and try to convince me to run away with him."

Dao laughed.

"Yeah, Bo is wrapped around my little finger. He doesn't have the guts to do that. Why don't you go back to your pretty little castle?"

"Then where do you think he was when he left for those two weeks after the fight that caused you to kick him out of the house? You should have seen him, Dao. More drunk than a noble man in a brothel, one of the more well-known and liked ones in Xuchang I might add. He was sleeping in the stable. Probably because he passed out in there before he even made it into the pub. His belt wasn't tied and he was so longing for me to spread my legs for him. When I didn't, he almost forced himself on me. Unlucky for him, I hit a lot harder that he does, but I'm sure he made it up to himself by means of the whores there."

Dao raised a hand to slap her, but Zhen caught it in midair. She let her sister go and turned to march away.

"You're lying!" Dao screamed at her.

Zhen stopped and looked over her shoulder at the pathetic woman behind her.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

Dao wailed out, knowing the answer.

"You're no sister to me!"

"And neither are you to me." Zhen responded as she marched away.

She wanted Dao to be burned at the stake, but there was nothing she could do. She was still Empress and an empress had to act within the law. Nothing Dao had done had been outside the law. So there was nothing Zhen could do to punish her.

Besides, for Dao to find out that Bo wasn't as faithful to her as she had thought was probably punishment enough.

Dao screamed again.


	7. No Family No More

First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Shenhu! Enjoy!

* * *

No Family No More

Zhen was sitting in the sitting room. Dong Xiang was sleeping on the couch next to her with her head resting on her thigh. She was wrapped comfortably in her yellow 'bee'. Rui was playing quietly on the floor in front of her. Xie was fast asleep in his crib.

After Zhen had left Bo and Dao's house yesterday, a silence hung over the house that seemed unbreakable. No one had said much more than 'please' or 'thank you' for the past day and a half.

Normally, Zhen would put a stop to this, but she had nothing more to say. Her father wouldn't accept her life with Cao Pi. Her first love betrayed her. Her sister ruined her life by cutting her off from her family. The rest of her family simply couldn't or didn't understand her. She had nothing more to say. She didn't belong here anymore. This wasn't home. This is simply Zhongshan now. Luoyang is home and she had to get there as soon as possible.

The only problem was that it was occupied by Shu and they would have her and the children killed if she ever returned, but she couldn't stay here any longer. She had nowhere to go.

Her father entered the room. He sat down on the chair next to her and said;

"I want you out of my house. You've torn this family apart sense you came here. I won't have you do any more damage or put this family in danger any longer with you imperial court business."

She expected as much, but the word would have still hurt if she wasn't numb to them.

"Father, do you remember when my mother died?"

"Yes."

"How long was it between when she died and you married your second wife?"

"I can't recall."

She did. Oh she remembered it so well.

"It was three weeks. It took you three weeks to abandon mother's memory and take a new woman into your bed."

Her father shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"You don't understand."

Suddenly that numb feeling that she had vanished. That void empty of emotion was filled with anger. Something inside her had snapped.

"Don't think I don't understand! Cao Pi goes away to battle every few weeks and I have to say good bye knowing that that may be the last time I ever see him! I know what it's like to be lonely. When mother died, I hadn't stopped hoping that she would wake me up one morning by the time you got your new wife. When Yuan Shao took me, you didn't try hard at all to get me back. Instead, you allowed Dao to take my place with Bo. Did you hope I would just vanish from memory? During my funeral, you weren't there. Now when we find out Dao has betrayed us all, you send me away before I do any more damage. How much longer are you going to cover up problems with a simple solution that only hurts the rest of us?"

He didn't answer.

"Or do you only love the children from your second wife that much more?"

"Of course not!"

"I always looked up to you father. You're a governor over a respectable region, but now I realize that when something goes wrong, instead of fixing it, you just warp the truth of it in your mind until it's all better, even if that means forgetting about your first wife and daughter."

"I want you out of this house." He whispered.

Zhen looked away from him.

"You don't have to tell me twice. I have Len and Jia packing my things now. We're leaving at dawn tomorrow."

"Good." He said, always having to have the last word.

She heard him get up and leave. A tear flowed down her face and fell from her jaw line.

Rui moved over to her. He wrapped her arms around her leg and leaned his chin on her knee.

"Why were you fighting, mamma?"

"Because your grandfather is sick and your aunt and uncle have been mean to me."

Her father was sick, in his mind if no longer in his body.

"Does that mean we are going home now?" Rui asked hopefully.

Zhen cupped the side of his head with her hand.

"No, Rui. We're going to go to a place call Hefei. It's not too far from here. Your father won a great battle there."

"When will we see father?"

She smiled.

"Hopefully, he's already there."

"Then will we see him tomorrow?"

It would take them a few days to get to Hefei, five at most.

"No, but very soon."

Rui smiled and turned to continue playing with the stuffed animals. She watched. From what she understood, his stuffed pony was a hero and Dong Xiang's pink bird was a bad guy. After bashing the two together a few times, Rui dropped the bird. The pony stomped on him a few times and then began to fly around the room victoriously.

"Rui, Xie and Xiang and sleeping." She reminded.

Rui sat back down on the floor and began narrating a new story. This time, the pony and bird were friends. The bird was trying to teach the pony to fly.

Jia entered the room.

"Zhen, we're all ready to go."

"Thank you, Jia."

Jia nodded.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"Some tea, please."

Jia nodded again and moved to the front door to get some water from the well. She froze in the doorway.

"Zhen, you need to come and see this."

Zhen gently lifted Xiang's head. She stood up and laid her daughter's head back down again.

"What is it?" She asked as she crossed the room.

Jia didn't answer. So Zhen moved next to her in the doorway and followed her gaze down the road. She saw several Wei soldiers riding toward the house.

Rui came running over.

"It's Daddy!"


	8. The Shifting of Power

Sorry for this taking forever!

xLadyxLionheartx, to answer your questions, I don't have the DW7 game cause I don't have a PS3. I did look at pictures through and I have to agree with you. Zhen isn't as pretty. I mean, she's not ugly or anything like that, her new hair just looks really terrible. As for Cao Pi, I guess I started this fic with him having his DW6 appearance, but I like his new look too. So you can imagine him either way you like.

* * *

The Shifting of Power

Zhen Ji stood very still as the war party traveled toward the house.

"It's Daddy! It's Daddy!" Rui cried.

As Zhen looked through the crowd of men, Cao Pi was one man that she didn't see.

"Jia, take Rui to his room and get his things packed."

"I want to see Daddy!" He protested.

Jia picked the child up and carried him upstairs. It tore her heart out to hear him cry like that, but it would be worse for him to run out and find that his father wasn't there. Besides the soldiers may be dressed in Wei colors, but that didn't necessarily mean that they were loyal to Cao Pi. They could be Sima Yi's soldiers. They would kill Rui as soon as they saw him.

However, when the soldiers got closer, she saw that it was Zhang Liao leading them. What was he doing here?

Zhen went through the front door and out into the middle of the street.

Zhang Liao pulled his sorrel horse to a halt in front of her.

"Lady Zhen, I'm glad that I finally found you."

Her eyes almost bulged at being called that, but she should have expected it. After all, he had come to the Zhen's home. It's just that no one, but Cao and the handmaids called her 'Zhen' anymore. She did manage to keep her face emotionless though. How did Zhang Liao even know that she was here, let alone that she was alive? All the other generals, with the exception of Xiahou Dun, had been told that she was dead.

"What's going on, general? I thought you were in Hefei."

He smiled.

"Wu is no longer a problem."

"And what is?"

Zhang Liao's face turned very grim. She became nervous.

"Is there somewhere we can talk, in private?" He asked.

"Of course."

x

A few minutes later, Zhen and Zhang Liao were sitting in the backyard. Even though her father was on the verge of throwing another fit, he was hardly able to force a general and his men away. They were dressed in armor and they each had two swords, a few daggers and a halberd. No one in this house had seen that many weapons before. Well, save Zhen and the maids. So there they were, sitting in the backyard like old friends. Liao's men were spread out. Some were in the house. Others in the stable and some were on patrol around the rest of the estate.

"Now tell me, what's going on?" She requested with a little more urgency in her voice.

"Zhen, first you should know that Cao Pi told me about the whole Lady Yin scheme. He told me because if anything happened to him, it would be my job to protect you."

"He didn't tell me that."

"No, he wouldn't, because he didn't want you to feel different towards me."

She almost chocked at what those word implied.

"What!"

Zhang Liao shifted uncomfortably.

"Not like that, Lady Zhen. Just think. If you knew that I was your secret protector, you'd begin trust me. Maybe we would have become friends. If something did happen and I had to get you away, then your enemies would know to torture me into telling them were you are."

She nodded, feeling very relieved compared to a few moments ago. However, she was still anxious to know why Zhang Liao had come.

"Now that I know that, what brought you here in the first place?"

Zhang Liao looked down at his feet.

"I'm here to follow the last order that Emperor Cao Pi gave me. I'm here to take the new emperor to Xuchang. You'll all be safe there."

Zhen shook her head.

"No, we won't be safe at Xuchang with Lady Guo there…" She paused as she suddenly remembered the middle of his sentence. "but what do you mean 'new emperor'!"

"Zhen…" Zhang Liao looked up at her. "Cao Pi is dead. Rui is our new lord."

She blankly stared at him.

"He was killed while trying to flee to Luoyang. Jiang Wei caught up with him and ambushed him. There's more, Lady Guo has gone missing. That makes you the Empress Dowager. Until Rui comes of age, you and Sima Yi share authority over all of Wei."

No, Cao Pi couldn't be dead. He couldn't be dead.

"Zhen, you have to come with me to Xuchang. It's not safe here anymore."

Oh gods, he was dead. He really was dead. Her stomach leaped into her throat and her head began to spin.

"General…" Her voice broke

She had to wait for it to return before continuing. The only problem was, it never did. She began to silently chook on the lump in her throat. She was going to throw up! So she pushed up from the table.

"Lady Zhen!"

In a split second, Zhang Liao was at her side with one of his hands holding her arm, but she didn't really care. Cao Pi was dead and it was her fault. Instead of running like some coward, she should have stayed in Luoyang and organized a counterattack. Then she could have saved him. Then she could still be Lady Yin and live out her days in peace.

"Lady Zhen!"

She had dropped to her knees and was holding her throat as if she was chocking. She was coughing violently. When her stomach tightened, she knew she was going to throw up, but she swallowed it down since she didn't want Zhang Liao to see her like that. Then she stood up and brushed Zhang Liao's hand off her. She took a deep breath.

"You say that Lady Guo has disappeared?"

"Yes."

"I want her found."

"Of course."

"Where's Sima Yi?"

"He's in Xuchang."

"Then that's where we'll go. We're going to avenge this loss, Zhang Liao."

"You know that I agree, empress, but if we're going to have any chance at revenge, then we're going to have to prepare well and not rush into things."

She nodded.

"But we can rush to Xuchang to get started."

"I'll have my men ready to march within the hour."

"Good."

She left him to prepare to the men. She had to prepare the children and herself. She grabbed one of the trunks from her room and shoved everything into it. The contents varied from her clothing to the children's toys and lastly, her old bow and flute. She was going to war.

"Ji, you can't possibly leave now!" Rong told her as she came in the door. "I know that you're mourning for Cao Pi, but you can't go back to the court. You're safer here, where no one knows who you are."

Zhen stood up straight.

"Rong, I have to. I'm the Empress Dowager now. I have a duty to the Wei Empire."

"Rui's safer here!" Her sister pleaded.

"He's safer where the generals can protect him! At Xuchang, there's five thousand strong soldiers and a dozen generals there. Not to mention the walls surrounding the castle and the city. I'm sorry Rong, but I have to go."

"What about the dangers inside the walls!"

"Now that Guo has gone missing, there aren't any there anymore." She lied, not wanting to explain about the others.

Jia and Len came in the room and began to drag the trunk away. Zhen went ahead of them and went outside. Zhang Liao had the men ready and even had a carriage brought out. The maids put the trunk inside and went back for the children. Zhen climbed up into Shadow's saddle and took the reins. Cloud and Storm were being used to pull the carriage.

Then the maids came back out. Jia held Xie while Len herded Rui and Dong Xiang towards the carriage. Once inside, the traveling party began to move. When Zhen looked over her shoulder, she saw her entire family watching her go. So she looked ahead, to the road in front of her.

"Empress, with Sima Yi in the capital, you know that you'll never be safe. He won't be content with sharing powers with you. He'll try and kill you and won't stop until he does. Then he'll control it all, at least until Rui comes of age."

"Then he'll kill Rui." She finished.

"Then he'll have to kill Xie. Then Wei will be his forever."

"What are you thinking that I should do?" She asked.

"You'll have to kill Sima Yi first."

"I agree, but I'll need Sima Yi's intelligence. Also, if Wei is constantly fighting with itself, then how could we hope to destroy Shu?"

The general didn't look too convinced.

"If you're more concerned with the fate of the land, then it's true, but what about your family? Sima Yi doesn't need you. Remember that. He won't lose anything by killing you."

She nodded. This was a dangerous time. Whenever the shifting of power occurred, it was always time of uncertainty. In fact, this was how the chaos started in the first place. She didn't want a whole new war to start between her and Sima Yi, but she couldn't let him seize the land either. She would have to kill him and she would have to make it look like he died of natural causes. After all, the people wouldn't take to following her if she murdered the man that helped her achieve her victory.

It would all come down to loyalties. If the generals were loyal to her, then they wouldn't go with any scheme that Sima Yi would come up with. So she would have to give them a reason to be loyal to her. For one, she was Empress Dowager. Two, she was the mother of the future emperor. Three, she had never started a rebellion like Sima Yi had, but she was going to need more than that. She was going to have to give the people, the generals, reason to follow her instead of Sima Yi. He had more battle and political experience than she did. He had spent more time with all the generals that she did.

However, Zhang Liao was on her side, clearly. Cao Ren would also be on her side. Cao Ren had been loyal to Cao Pi and to his family. She was his family. Xu Huang would also be on her side since he had been Cao Pi's bodyguard for a time. She had known him as long as she had known Cao Pi. She would also get help from Cai Wenji.

Sima Shi would definitely side with his father. There wasn't even a question there. Lady Guo, should she appear, might go either way. If she found out about how Sima Yi murdered Cao Zhi or not. If she knew, she wouldn't side with Sima Yi. If she didn't know, she would side with Sima Yi, but she still wouldn't side with Zhen since she had taken Cao Pi from her. No matter what, Zhen couldn't expect help from Lady Guo.

x

They arrived at Xuchang a few days later. Zhen wore a long traveling clock with a hood that covered everything from the tip of her nose and up so that only her lips and chin showed.

Sima Yi came out to greet them in the southern courtyard. Her heart began to pound in her chest. She was leading herself and her children right into his clutches.

"Ah, Zhang Liao. It's good to see you, but I must ask, why have you been gone for so long?"

Zhang Liao swung down off his horse.

"I have brought the Empress Dowager to lead us against Shu."

Sima Yi smirked then turned to face her. She swung her leg over Shadow's croup and swiftly landed on the ground without a sound.

"Lady, or should I say, Empress Dowager Guo. It's good to see you. It's been a while."

Zhen smiled. He thought that she was Guo. He was in for a surprise.

"Actually," Zhen started as she turned around. "it's Empress Dowager Zhen Ji."

She tilted her head up and pulled the hood away. Sima Yi was left shocked.

"But… Zhen, you were dead."

"Zhen Ji was." She responded.

"Then you were that Lady Yin that Cao Pi took to Luoyang!"

She silently commended him with how short of a time it took for him to piece Cao Pi's plot together. She was also glad that she no longer depended on it for her survival. If it didn't take him long to figure out after seeing her up close, how long would it have taken him to kill her had they been in Luoyang?

She gave him the same cunning smile that he had given her so many times in the past. She was rather pleased with herself for making such a dramatic entrance. It was exactly what she need. After an incident like this, people would be talking about this for a long time.

Without giving the speechless Sima Yi a chance to regain his words, she left him standing there, looking like an idiot.

x

A few hours later, the sun had set and Zhen was getting settled into her new chambers. It was the same chambers that she had slept in as Cao Pi's wife after Cao Cao had died. So much had changed since then. Then, she had been the Queen of Wei. Now she was the Empress Dowager of Wei.

The maids brought in her wardrobe as she stood to have her measurements taken for a new suit of armor.

"Empress, I've found some of your old dresses from before you left here as Lady Yin." One of her new maids announced.

Now that she was Empress, Len and Jia weren't her only maids. She had about five new ones. They all seemed kind enough, but she didn't know any of them well enough to trust them with anything important.

"Have them brought here. Are you almost done?" She asked the seamstress.

"Yes, I'm done now, Empress Zhen."

The new dress was fitting for an empress, but Zhen's taste was too simple for something elaborate as this and there was no point in looking like a goddess right now. She took off her headdress and the robe that was tied around her waist. Leaving her in a simple looking black dress made of silk with hand sown beadwork around the collar. Then she kicked her heels off and put on some comfortable flats.

"Good. I'm going to go and see to my children."

She left her chambers and started down the dark halls toward the children's rooms. She began to turn a corner and was nearly run down by a man who was thrown up against the wall. She was forced a few steps back since the man hit her. Her footsteps were hidden by the crash of the man's armor against the stone.

"You incompetent fool! How could you not know that Zhen Ji was still alive!" Sima Yi's voice roared.

Zhen pressed herself against the wall. Sima Yi couldn't be more than a few inches from her. If she breathed too loud, he would hear her. If there had been a torch next to her, he would have been able to see her shadow. Her heart pounded so loud that she was scared he would hear it. Only the angle of the corner hid her from his sight.

"She took the name 'Yin Ji' before she went to Luoyang!" The man pleaded.

Sima Yi scowled.

"And that fact that they were both 'Ji' didn't raise your suspicions? That fact that Zhen disappeared as soon as Yin showed up alone should have caused reason for doubt."

"Zhen Ji had a funeral in Luoyang!"

"Cao Pi could have had any look alike buried in her place!" The strategist roared.

She felt his breath on her cheek. She closed her eyes and stopped breathing so that she was silent. It seemed that even her heart stopped.

Sima Yi gave the man another shove and turned away.

"Master Sima Yi, why does it matter so much?"

"Argh! When Cao Pi died and Rui vanished, I had it all. Now that Rui's back, my power will only be temporary and shared with the empress dowager."

"So kill him."

"I could, if Zhen wasn't here. She'd know it was me and she'd rally the generals against me. Unfortunately, the Sima family doesn't have the strength to fight off the Cao loyalists."

"So kill Zhen Ji as well."

"I can't. If Zhen dies, then the men's morale will plummet. Since her return, it's been higher than ever before. We'll need their will to fight to finish off Shu."

There was a pause. Zhen continued to hold her breath so that they wouldn't be able to hear her breathing. It's all she could do. She couldn't try to leave, they'd hear her. All she could do is wait. Wait for them to leave, hopefully in the opposite direction from where she was standing or wait for some soldiers to come and help her leave unharmed. For Sima Yi would surely hold her captive, if nothing else, if he knew she was there listening to them.

"Then what do we do?" The man eventually asked.

"We'll have to wait until Shu is gone before we do anything."

"What do we do?" The man asked, sounding a little more urgent.

Sima Yi let out a sigh.

"Cao Pi took her from Yuan Xi. In doing so, he proved his dominance over the Yuans. He also conceived his heir with her. That symbolized the future he made by defeating his enemies." Sima Yi paused. "I shall do the same. When Shu is finished, I shall take Zhen Ji as a consort."

Zhen's heart missed yet another beat.

"Master Sima Yi, wouldn't it make more sense to give her to Shi? That way, she could bring about the future of the Sima family."

Zhen almost gaged. Shi was Sima Yi's oldest son who didn't have a wife yet. She was almost ten years his senior. Sima Yi laughed.

"It would, but I'd like to keep her for myself. After all, I've never benefitted from the spoils of war quite like Cao Pi has."

With another laugh that sent chills through her entire being, Sima Yi began to walk away. Away from where she was standing frozen, but the man stopped him.

"What about Zhen's children?"

Sima Yi stopped in his tracks, the same as her heart did.

"Once Zhen is my concubine, I'll have no use for the brats. I'll kill them."

Zhen silently sucked in a breath. The words Zhen heard rang in her mind over and over until both men were long gone. An hour after they were gone, every emotion she had hidden and held back came out with a vengeance. She collapsed to the floor and cried harder than she had ever cried in her life. Cao Pi was dead and she could have stopped it from happening, but didn't. Now Sima Yi was scheming to kill her children and take her as a sex slave. All the while, she wanted her revenge and yet she hadn't even had time to properly mourn.

After what could have been any length of time, she wiped away her tears and stood up. After regaining her calm composure or something close to it, she continued down the halls. Instead of going to her children, she went back to her room. Rui, Dong Xiang and Xie would all be asleep by now and she didn't want to wake them.

Sima Yi said himself, he couldn't lay a hand on them until Wei was his or the generals would kill him. So Zhen didn't fear for their safety, at the moment.

She found her chambers were empty, empty and lonely. She let out a whimpering moan and moved over to the unoccupied bed, wishing that he would be there, but he wasn't. He would never be there again.

* * *

As I have said before, any and every story review or idea for the plot is appreciated!


	9. To be the Empress Dowager

Hey, I'm back! So sorry for the super long break. I have threee jobs now. So I've been pretty busy, but here ya go. The next chapter should be up next week sometime.

* * *

To be the Empress Dowager

The next morning, Zhen never left her chambers. She wanted time to cry. When midday came, she called for Shao Len and Jing Jia to come. She ordered them to tell everyone that she had fallen ill. They agreed and did as she asked. Jia took care of the children, with the help of the other maids, while Len took care of her. She held Zhen as she cried. She also brought her tea and food.

By the next day, Zhen was able to hold herself together long enough to attend the normal meals. When Sima Yi came in, it was a different story. Images of the fate he had in store for her overwhelmed her mind. It wasn't just what he was going to do to her, but what he was also going to do to her children. So she excused herself and left.

After a few hours, she summoned Zhang Liao to her chambers and ordered him to concentrate his focus on protecting Cao Rui and Cao Xie. Dong Xiang wasn't in the same immediate danger as her brothers were.

That evening, she met with the war council which consisted of the generals and Sima Yi, the serpent himself. She and the strategist both sat at the head of the table. Zhen was on the right and Sima Yi was on the left. Her hands were shaking, so she kept them on her lap and under the table, out of everyone's sight. Her face was covered with worry. She knew it, but her worry was too immense to hide it all. Sima Yi on the other hand, looked quite content with himself.

Bastard.

"Let's get started." She announced in a voice that sounded quite calm and strong compared to how she felt. "We will avenge Cao Pi's death and we will destroy Shu."

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

"The first step will be to take Luoyang back." Sima Yi announced.

She nodded.

"What is your plan?"

"Since we want to occupy Luoyang and not destroy it, we can't use a fire attack or catapults. We also want to make sure that no innocent life is lost." He explained.

"And how do we go about doing that?" Xiahou Dun asked, sounding a little annoyed.

He had never liked listening to how Sima Yi rattled about things, especially things that were obvious.

"We'll plant some spies in Luoyang. They'll assassinate Jiang Wei and Liu Shan. After losing Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, the rest of the Shu generals will retreat back to their little hole in Chengdu. Then we can obliterate them there."

"And who are these spies going to be?" She asked.

"Zhang Liao can forge a defection."

No! She didn't want Zhang Liao leaving her to the serpent with his lies and schemes, but she needed more reason than that.

"No, I want Zhang Liao to stay here. Shu will never believe he defected from Wei after his contributions at Hefei."

Zhang Liao didn't say anything. That is, until Sima Yi commented on it.

"What do you have to say about this, general?"

The feared general of Wei took a moment to consider his answer.

"I would do anything to further Wei's cause. Everyone here knows that, but I think that Empress Zhen is right. They won't believe I would defect from Wei after everything I did at Hefei and I won't be of much use if I'm killed." He pointed out.

Sima Yi raised an eyebrow, ever so slightly. Zhen pondered over what it could mean. Did he believe Zhang Liao's reasoning, or did he suspect him of something? He couldn't possibly know about Cao Pi ordering Zhang Liao to put her protection over anything else. He might not know, but did he suspect anything?

She shook off these alarming thoughts with a deep breath. Then she looked over at Sima Yi, who seemed to have something to say. Zhen held her breath.

"Very well, after Hefei, it would seem unlikely that you'd defect and we don't want to risk your safety, do we? However, we still need to figure out who's going to Luoyang…"

Sima Yi was interrupted by the door behind them suddenly swinging open. One of the man servants came in. Everyone glared at him, making him rush to his destination as fast as he could. He leaned into Zhen and whispered into her ear;

"Jia sent me. She needs help with Princess Dong Xiang."

"Not during a council meeting." She whispered back.

"She says that it's important."

Zhen looked at the other members of the council. They were all staring at her. Some of them looked annoyed and others looked slightly worried, the most so was Zhang Liao. She gestured the servant to leave with a casual wave of her hand. Then she stood up, which created a chain reaction which left everyone else standing as well.

"We're going to take a short break. We'll convene again in fifteen minutes."

With that, she turned and began to walk to the nearest exit.

"I hope it's nothing… serious." Sima Yi said as she shut the door behind her.

She didn't bother to respond to the serpent of a man that was Wei's strategist. Instead, she focused on walking as fast as she could to Dong Xiang's chambers. Halfway there, she began to hear screaming, making her run the rest of the way. She swung the door open to find Xiang on the floor crying as loud as she could with Jia kneeling next to her. Jia saw her and leaped to her feet.

"Zhen! Thank goodness you're here. I've been trying to calm her down, but nothing I've been doing has worked."

Zhen got down to her knees in front of her daughter.

"Xiang, what's wrong?" She asked in a calm and sensitive voice.

"Daddy! I want my DADDY!" Dong Xiang screamed.

Zhen froze for a moment. If they ever went to Luoyang, she knew that the children would search the halls for him, but since they were in Xuchang, she had thought that none of the children would ask about their late father, at least she hoped so because she was too weak to tell them the truth. She was obviously wrong.

She looked up at Jia. They shared a teary glance as the girl between them continued to cry.

"Come here, Xiang."

Zhen put her hands on Dong Xiang's arms. The girl crawled up on her lap so she wrapped her arms around her and began to gently rock the girl. Xiang continued to cry. Tears of her own began to flow down her face.

x

A few minutes later, Zhen was back on her way to the council room. She had a decision to make. Since she had arrived at Xuchang, she hadn't been giving her children the attention they needed and deserved. What was her priority, family or country? Zhen Ji put family above anything. It was always what mattered most to her, but the Empress Dowager had to put the land first. Lady Yin never had to make a decision that was this hard.

Family mattered more to her than anything. She knew that, but what good was a family if she couldn't keep the land safe enough for them to live in? So for the love of her family, she was going to have to ignore them for a while. She didn't like it at all, but she didn't see any other way.

This wasn't what she wanted. When Rui was first born, she decided that she didn't want him to be raised by maids and members of the court. So she put politics and court matters second and put family first. Cao Pi had always managed to keep a perfect balance between the two, but she wasn't Cao Pi. She wasn't raised in the ways of the court. She didn't know how to keep everyone in check and make sure that no one over stepped their bounds.

Then again, Sima Yi had led a rebellion, Lady Guo tried to kill her and Cao Zhi almost raped her. If even Cao Pi couldn't keep those three in line, what hope was there for her? Even though Cao Zhi was dead, she still had to worry about finding Lady Guo and preventing Sima Yi from killing Rui and Xie.

She opened the door of the council room and found that she was the last one to return. It had been more than fifteen minutes sense she had left.

"Shall we continue?" Sima Yi asked in a casual and emotionless voice that it made a chill go up her spine.

She wanted to turn and run because of the look her gave her, but she stood her ground and answered;

"Yes."

She took her seat and waited for someone to say something.

x

A few hours later, they hadn't come up with any brilliant ideas. Sima Yi was still stuck on sending an assassin into Luoyang. However, no one was too eager to volunteer for the mission.

Zhen was sitting in the northern courtyard, in the very spot that she had almost taken her own life. She was here under very different circumstances now. She would rather have the previous one.

She was sitting on the bench with Xie sitting up on her lap while he watched his siblings play. Rui and Xiang were both throwing rocks into the pond. They were both trying to get the biggest splash. Xie was watching with much excitement. He flailed his arms and giggled loudly as every rock landed in the pond with a thud and a splash.

"It's strange how such… ordinary things can amuse them so." A calm voice spoke.

Zhen turned and saw Sima Yi standing before her. She was going to demand; 'what do you want?', but decided not to. After all, she didn't want to tip him off that she knew about his plan to kill her children and keep her as his nighttime entertainment. So she kept a calm composure and simply answered in a flat tone;

"Children aren't complicated. It doesn't take a game of go to keep them entertained."

She was referring to how she had often seen Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun playing the board game, but she had also seen Cao Cao playing with Sima Yi a few times. Sima Yi was a master at the game. Cao Pi had been also. He had tried to teach it to her once. She tried, but wasn't very good at it. The game was boring and she didn't understand how anyone could put so much work into where some black and white tiles were placed on a board. She had had other interests hidden behind the reason why she pulled him away from his father so he could teach her to play the game. Cao Pi had sensed it and so, the game had quickly ended.

Then she remembered that he was gone. The all too familiar hole in the bottom of her heart swelled up again. A part of it was Sima Yi's fault. If he had secured Cao Pi a proper escape route the way Xiahou Dun had for Cao Cao after the battle of Chibi, then Cao Pi would be alive!

Sima Yi let out a laugh and sat down next to her. What made him think that she had given him permission to do that?

When Sima Yi ran one of his claws along Xie's cheek, she wanted to scream and run with all her children somehow in her arms. She couldn't. Sima Yi may have a casual expression on his face, but she knew this was a test. He was testing her to see if she knew about his plan. He figured that if she did, she would run. If she didn't she would jerk Xie away from his claws because of the blood that was already between them, but if she did nothing, then he would see her as an idiot.

Instead of doing any of those, she dove for Sima Yi's hand.

"There's a spider!"

She smacked his arm and pretended to watch the 'spider' run away.

"It got away."

She turned back to the strategist. It had felt good to hit him. More so than she would like to admit, but did so anyway.

"Oh ah… I'll have the servants check for any webs." Sima Yi replied in an awkward voice.

"Would you? That would be so helpful. Dong Xiang hates spiders. Rui does too." She stated in a typical lady's voice.

Sima Yi stood up and gave her a slight bow with his fist in his opposite palm.

"Anything for our future emperor." He said calmly before turning and leaving.

She made a scowling face to his back as he left, but was careful to not to let a sound escape from her lips. After he was gone, she left her mind find its way back to her children.

"That was big!" Xiang shouted, excitedly.

"Not as big as mine was!" Rui argued.

Before they could argue over whose rock had made the bigger splash, she stopped them by raising her voice, only slightly.

"Rui, play nice with your sister."

They both spun around to face her.

"But mine was bigger!" Rui insisted.

"No it wasn't!" Xiang argued, getting angry.

Meanwhile, Xie waited patiently for the next entertaining splash to be made.

"Xiang, Rui…"

Her voice faltered because of the look Rui gave her. He looked so much like his father. For a painfully short moment, she was back in the Yecheng hall with those bold blue eyes staring at her.

When she blinked, both her children stood before her with touchingly worried expressions on their faces.

"Momma, what's wrong?" Xiang asked as she bounced over and folded her arms on Zhen's knee.

"Nothing." She answered as she whipped away a potential tear.

She still hadn't told them that Daddy was never coming home. She wasn't sure if it was because she knew she wouldn't be able to bare their reaction, or if it was because she couldn't bare hearing it herself. Then, she knew that it would be true and there couldn't be any more pretending that he would come back one day. However, after hearing Sima Yi's plans, she couldn't pretend. She couldn't afford it, but more importantly, her children couldn't afford it.


	10. Complications

Complications

Empress Dowager Zhen Ji tried to keep her mind off of Sima Yi's plans, but it was the only thing that her thoughts were capable of contemplating. She couldn't think of anything else. It was driving her away from everything else, even her children. She felt her sanity was slipping away.

"You can't really blame yourself. I would be more worried if you didn't think about it." Shao Len assured her as she helped Zhen dress for the latest council meeting.

However, that wasn't really the kind of comfort she needed. She dropped her arms to her sides and turned to face Len and Jing Jia. Her face was serious.

"Len, Jia, before I go, I want both of you to promise me something."

"Anything, Zhen." Jia responded.

"After everything we've been through, you still simply call her 'Zhen'. She's the Empress…"

"Stop, please." Zhen interrupted. "I can't stand being called that. Just swear that if anything ever happens to me or Zhang Liao, get the children out of the city as fast as possible. Go into hiding in the country and never come back."

"Why Zhang Liao?" Jia asked.

"Because right now, he's the silent muscle protecting me. Sima Yi must know that I would never return to Xuchang if it meant endangering myself or the children. So he knows that there's someone watching my back. If he finds out its Zhang Liao, he'll kill him. Then he'll go after the children. Swear it!"

"We swear." They both said, almost annoyed that she would have to go to such an extent to be assured of their loyalty, but were still understanding about it.

Zhen turned back to the mirror. The brightness of her golden brown eyes was slowly fading to a dull brown. All this stress was aging her, yet she was still in her mid-twenties.

"I don't know how Cao managed to do this. He's gone to meetings like this his entire life. I've only been here a week and I'm already dreading waking up in the morning."

"Cao never had to worry about his children's lives at the hand of his rival." Len simply said.

"He had to worry about Zhen's safety, when it came to Cao Zhi." Jia reminded.

An idea hit her.

"Yes, he did. Zhi was his biggest rival. Just like how Sima Yi is my rival. Cao Pi got rid of his rival as soon as he could, as soon as he over-stepped his bounds. That's what I'll have to do. As soon as Sima Yi does something he shouldn't, I'll have him banished. That's how I'll get rid of him when this is over!"

"What if Shu asks for his help?" Jia asked.

"They won't. They've never been the kind to employ a man who might turn against them. Remember how Liu Bei stopped Cao Cao from employing Lu Bu because of how Lu Bu killed his former master?"

"Then what about Wu?"

"Wu hasn't done anything since Hefei. I think they're finally content with the lands they have now. We'll worry about them later."

She let out a laugh.

"What?" Len asked.

"How is it that I can accomplish more when I'm getting dressed with my handmaids than when I'm in council with generals and strategists?"

All three of them smiled.

"Never leave to dozens of men to do what three women can do." Len summarized.

They all laughed.

x

An hour later, Zhen was sitting at the end of the table in the council room. She was listening to the men's pointless squandering. Sima Yi wanted to send in an assassin. Zhang Liao and the other generals wanted to storm Luoyang to take it back from Shu.

"We cannot destroy the capital." She proclaimed.

"Nor can we meet them elsewhere. They're cowards, they won't leave the city walls." Sima Yi told her.

"So what are we going to do?" Cao Ren asked.

"We'll launch a surprise attack." Sima Yi announced as he stood up. "In the middle of the night, we'll send a task force to open the gates. Then the rest of the army will take the city by storm. Finally, we'll take the castle."

Everyone looked to her when the strategist stopped speaking. They were looking for her opinion.

Storming the city at night… The innocent people would be asleep in their homes, but it would make them harder to distinguish from the Shu soldiers in the dark. However, it seemed to be the best choice. No, it was the only choice.

She stood up, her mind already made up.

"Do it. Sima Yi, prepare the strategy. Cao Ren, prepare the supplies. Xiahou Dun, prepare the men. Zhang Liao, prepare the horses. We move out in three days."

Everyone smirked. The entire force of the Cao Wei Empire was going to come crashing down on Shu. They would win, there was no doubt. The only problem would be preventing the death of the innocents and the destruction of their city.

When they all left the hall, Zhen went to the northern courtyard, where she knew Len and Jia would have her children. She found them sitting in the grass under one of the peach trees. Dong Xiang saw her and came running with a wide cherry stained smile on her face.

"Mommy!"

Zhen bent down and picked her daughter up.

"What have you been up to, huh? Have you eaten all the cherries?"

Xiang giggled. Rui came running over to her and grabbed the fabric of her dress.

"Can I go riding!?" He asked excitedly.

"No, not right now." She calmly answered.

"Then can Daddy take me?"

Her throat tightened. Her stomach turned over and her eyes began to swell.

"No, Rui. Daddy can't take you riding. He's… he's away and he's not coming back for a long time."

"Empress." A voice interrupted. "Zhang Liao requests your presence at the throne room."

She turned to face the messenger. Xiang was still in her arms and Rui was still holding to the folds of her dress. With her pink eyes, it must have been quite a pathetic sight.

"Can't it wait?"

"He's says it's important." The messenger insisted.

She rolled her eyes. Of course it was important. Every damn thing a messenger came to tell her was important.

"How important?"

"It's Lady Guo. Zhang Liao's found her."

Chills ran down her spine. This time when a messenger said 'important' it actually was so.

"Who's Guo?" Rui asked.

Zhen turned to the maids, who had Xie wrapped up in a thick bundle against the cool autumn air.

"Take the children to their rooms." She ordered.

"Mom!" Rui and Xiang both shouted.

"Don't argue with me." She told them as she put Xiang down. "I'll meet you for dinner."

Len and Jia gathered the children and herded them back into the castle. Zhen watched them go and reminded herself that everything she was doing was for them. The only reason she was here was for their futures.

It was strange that just because of their paternity, their lives were in mortal danger.

Had she not told Cao Pi about Yuan Shao's attack, then if she had lived through the invasion of the castle, then the children she would have had wouldn't be in this kind of danger. However, they wouldn't be the same children and there wouldn't have been any Cao Pi. Could she have fallen in love with someone else, or was Cao Pi the only man for her? She would never find out. As Empress Dowager, she couldn't marry again and not cause an uproar about it. After all, that man would be the husband of the empress and wouldn't that mean he was the new emperor? No common man could be emperor. That meant, she would be a widow for the rest of her life. However, she would rather be Cao Pi's widow, than any lesser man's wife.

Thinking of wives, her husband's other wife had been found.

The question was; what to do with her? She should kill her. After all, she did help with Cao Zhi's and Sima Yi's rebellion. She plotted to kill Rui and she wanted Zhen to kill herself. There were more than enough reasons for Zhen to have her executed.

She turned and began making her way to the throne room, the same throne room that Sima Yi had murdered Cao Zhi in because Sima Yi wanted all the power for himself. Guo knew none of that. In fact, Zhen didn't know what she had heard about Zhi's death. Cao Pi and his men had discovered the body when they took the city back. Who knows what Guo knows concerning how Zhi actually died?

Zhen turned the final corner to the throne room. Before her stood two very distinct figures, one of them was Zhang Liao in his usual blue and silver armor and the other was the former Empress, Guo Nuwang.

Rage flowed through Zhen's veins. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She clenched her fists, but kept her face as calm as she could. She had to do this. She had to face Guo now, or later. Of course, if she waited till later, there was no knowing what circumstances that would be under. Guo had been a part of the last plot to kill her son. So Zhen had no doubt that Guo would take part in this one as well.

Zhen let out a silent breath and let her legs sweep her away, towards Guo and Zhang Liao. Guo saw her and gave her a disturbing, hair-raising, smile.

"Lady Zhen…"

"Empress Zhen, actually."

Guo gave her a look.

"Right. _Dowager_ Empress. Our husband is dead afterall."

"Are you forgetting that _I_ am the mother of the future Emperor and not some bastard child?. Not to mention that I'm the one who was running the kingdom while you were off…"

"Ladies!" Zhang Liao interrupted. "Right now you're both forgetting something."

He gave Guo a meaningful look. When she saw this, she glared at Guo for an explanation. Then she let out another breath, which she had been holding since the moment Zhang Liao first interrupted her. Guo shifted all her weight to one foot and put a boney hand on her skinny little hip.

"I've come to help you." Guo stated.

A thousand comebacks flashed through Zhen's mind, but none of them made it out. She was speechless. Guo, the one who wanted to watch her drown herself was offering help!? The woman who schemed to kill Rui behind hers and Cao Pi's back came here, to offer help!?

A minute of silence had gone by. Both Guo and Zhang Liao were waiting for a response from her. She gave them one, a really loud one.

"YOU!? Why would YOU help me!?"

Guo rolled her eyes.

"You!?" Zhen continued. "After you've nearly killed me and brought all of Wei down, why would you help me now!?" She screamed.

Zhang Liao raised his hand to stop her from making a move on Guo. He must have seen her clenched fists.

"Shall we continue this in a more private setting?" He suggested.

He was right. Sima Yi's spies could be anywhere. She didn't voice her agreement out loud, but she didn't voice any objection either. Zhang Liao must have known that that was as good of a reaction he could get from her. So he took advantage and led both of them away. Zhen watched Guo very closely from the corner of her eye. If Guo tried anything, like pulling a knife or lunging for one of Zhang Liao's weapons, Zhen would see it. If she tried to run, Zhen would have seen it long before she gained any speed and would have her tackled to the ground in a flash.

They walked down the halls for a ways and eventually stopped at where Zhang Liao thought they would be alright. Zhen didn't waste any time with getting started again.

"Why in the name of the heavens should I trust you!?"

"Think Zhen! Use that little brain of yours. I know that you and Sima Yi are battling it out when the council's out. If Sima Yi wins, then he'll kill or enslave everyone that's ever been associated with Cao Pi, including me and Nu Ming. So I have to help you, for my daughter's sake."

Zhen smirked.

"Why would Sima Yi kill your daughter? It's not like she's Cao Pi's flesh and blood."

Zhang Liao went wide eyed.

"Sima Yi doesn't know that and if he had us at sword point, he wouldn't believe me. He would just think that I was saying what he wanted to hear to save her life."

Zhen stared at Guo for a long moment, looking for any sign that she might be lying, but there was none. Guo kept her cold and motionless composure true to her usual standards. Then Zhen found a flaw in Guo's story and brought it to everyone's attention.

"You said that you came here to help me. I sent out a small army looking for you for the past week. If you were safely in hiding, then why would you come back? Why wouldn't my soldiers have found you?"

Guo rolled her eyes.

"Please, I knew your men would find me eventually. I decided to come before they dragged me here and I had no desire to be brought in by one of your men the way Zhango Liao brought you. How many days did you spend locked in your room after that?"

Some color rose in Liao's cheeks.

Anger flashed through her all over again. It wasn't the fact that Guo was suggesting there was an affiar on between her Zhang Liao. It was how Guo learned about Zhen's time in hiding that bothered her. How could Guo know that. More importantly, who would Guo find out from?

x

"I don't trust her!" She repeated. "She tried to kill me and Rui after trying to use us as leverage against Cao Pi. She tried to raise Wei to the ground and allied herself with Sima Yi and Cao Zhi. Both of whom were Cao Pi's biggest threats and rivals."

She was pacing the floor of Zhang Liao's chambers. It was the only place they deemed safe to have their talks. He sat on the chair of his desk and watched her wear down the wood of the floor with her shoes.

"I know. I may not have been there, but I realize the damage that was caused."

She didn't like how he chose to say 'damage' instead of 'pain' or something like that. Then again, he was probably referring to the political and military consequences of the rebellion, rather than the emotional and domestic ones. There were political damages. They may have not seen it at first, but after the rebellion, Shu saw their chance to attack. Looking at it through their perspective, why not attack a kingdom that had been at war with itself? Cao Wei was only beginning. It was new, fragile, but it had a strong foundation. It had servants like Zhang Liao and strong future leader, Rui. No one could deny that he was a strong emperor in the making.

However, this was exactly the kind of thing that would destroy everything, war with an outside kingdom while war was brewing once again on the inside. Sima Yi knew this too, that was why he wasn't making his move. He knew that to seize power, he needed her half of Cao Wei. Lady Guo only complicated things. Was she really on her side? She had to be if she knew that it was Sima Yi to murder Cao Zhi, the father of her daughter.

Still, it wasn't comforting that Guo had agreed to join them so easily. Something just wasn't right. She couldn't explain it. It just wasn't right.

Meeting Zhang Liao privately in his chambers didn't help this feeling of unease. It gave people like Guo reason for suspicion.

"Is she really that valuable of an asset?" Zhen questioned.

Zhang Liao gave her a stern look.

"Zhen, I know where this is going. I know I'm sworn to protect you, but I won't kill Guo for you."

Zhen spun around from her latest stride to face the general.

"I don't need you to kill her. I can…"

"Don't say it. What would people say if your arch rival, which suddenly showed up, suddenly died as well? Even if you could do it to look like natural causes, it would have dire consequences."

She continued her excessive pacing.

"People won't stop whispering about it." Liao continued. "They'll be talking about it for a long time. Even Rui could be affected, an Emperor with a murderer for a mother. Who knows what people will say?"

Zhen stopped in her tracks so that she was barely two paces in front of Liao's desk.

"Guo is the concubine! She's the sonless concubine." She specified. "I'm the Empress Dowager that's leading the kingdom until my son can take over. The people won't remember her. They'll remember me."

It may sound selfish, but it was true. Guo's 'accomplishments' paled in comparison to hers. She had given Cao Pi two sons, one of them being his heir, she accompanied him on his conquests and she was leading the kingdom against Shu. What had Guo done? She'd birthed the bastard daughter of Cao Pi's rival, she spent half her life in Hefei doing nothing and she'd participated in the rebellion against Cao Wei.

The odds of being remembered were clearly in her favor, not that she was particularly concerned with that right now.

"I want Guo gone." She stated.

Liao was quick to counter her.

"She's only on our side to save her own skin. This is exactly the kind of talk that would give her reason enough to go crawling back to Sima Yi."

"But Sima Yi murdered Cao Zhi!"

"Guo doesn't know that and we shouldn't tell her."

"Why? If we are going to keep her, then she should have more reason to stay on our side."

Zhang Liao stood up and moved over to the door.

"Simple. There's already one emotionally unstable woman in Xuchang. I couldn't handle having another one."

Zhen knew that there was more meaning to what Liao had said than just what his sentence implied. That's the only reason she went out the door when he opened it for her.

When she finally got back to the wing with the children's chambers, she found out from Len and Lia that they were already in bed. Then when she herself got to bed, she realized what it was like to miss valuable family time. Now that Zhen was in Cao Pi's shoes, she felt terrible for how she had been angry with him at times for not getting out of council early enough to be with her and the children. The only difference was, she was spending most her time with Zhang Liao and Cao Pi had been with Sima Yi, the man she was conspiring to kill. However, he was planning to enslave her and kill her children. So the scales were even, almost even, that is.


	11. Dangerous Snakes

Dangerous Snakes

The next day, there wasn't a council meeting. Rather, everyone was preparing for the invasion of Luoyang. Of course, Zhen already had her armor and her bow and quiver ready. After all her things were packed, there really wasn't a whole lot left for her to do. So she spent her final two days in Xuchang with her children. Zhang Liao on the other hand, he was never in the same place for more than a few moments at a time. He shouted orders from afar and instructed everyone in uniform to go and do something whether it be hauling a crate or bringing certain weapons. It was utter chaos and the battle hadn't even began yet. After watching for a few minutes, Zhen decided that Zhang Liao did have control over the situation and decided to leave him to it.

As a result of everything, Zhen and the children were all in her chambers. Rui and Xiang played on the floor with some of their toys. She had Xie wrapped up in her arms.

She would miss this while she was away, being with family, the family that mattered most to her. The only problem was, Cao Pi wasn't here. He had been the one to really start all this and he started it with those unforgettable looks at her first wedding.

Once again she found herself thinking about Cao Pi. What would her life have been like if they never meet? Would she have died with the Yuans? If she had somehow lived through the massacre, what then? Would she have been taken as a slave or a concubine? If she escaped one of those fates, then could she have somehow made it back to Zhongshan? Would Wang Bo still have been interested in her? Probably not considering she had been married to Yuan Xi, for only she and Lang Shui knew that he had been interested in other men.

No, she had to stop thinking about how Cao Pi saved her when she had run out of options. She had to stop thinking so much about him or she'd go insane. That was hard considering she saw him every time she looked at Rui. Rui had those same eyes…

She had to mentally slap herself back into reality. Right now was about the children. If everything went as she planned, she would see them in Luoyang, but if they didn't, she might never see them again.

She drew Xie closer and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. She closed her eyes against the bitter sweetness of the moment as a tear flowed down her cheek. She wasn't even gone and she was already missing them.

x

The next morning, everyone that had anything to do with the invasion had been summoned to the front courtyard. Unfortunately, Lady Guo was also included in that group. Sima Yi, Zhang Liao, Cao Ren, Xu Huang and the other generals were in the front on their horses.

It was quite a sight to see.

Zhen was dressed in decorative armor. She wore a white long sleeved dress with silver splint armor. She also had black riding boots that reached her thighs. The slits in the dress over each leg would allow her to ride comfortably. Her belt wrapped neatly around her waist. Her bow and quiver were strapped to her back. She had pulled the top half of her hair away from her face. The other half fell as far to the small of her back. She didn't wear any jewelry or any hair ornaments. The time for those things was long over.

She was standing at the top of the steps, just under the hoof of the castle. When she stepped out into the daylight, everyone turned to watch. She kept her shoulders square and her chin high. No emotion showed on her face. She imagined she looked regal, which came strangely easy for her since it was Cao Pi to be born to this kind of setting and not her.

She made her way to the front of the lineup. A stable boy brought Storm out. Cao Pi's old warhorse was clad in elaborate silver armor.

Zhen put her foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle the way she had seen Cao Pi do dozens of times on this very same horse. Some of the soldiers cheered out. The generals were touched by the fact that she was taking Cao Pi's horse. It hadn't been a hard choice. Cloud had been a part of battles before and all, but Zhen left her here for Rui to ride. Shadow was a wonderful mare, but Cao Pi gave her the mare only because he needed her to confirm her identity as Lady Yin. Storm on the other hand, he had been there as a part of their story since Yecheng. He had been there to carry Len, Jia and Rui out of Xuchang during the rebellion and he took them to Zhongshan. Not to mention all the times Cao Pi had ridden him in battle.

Now she would ride the flawless white colored stallion into battle.

From out of nowhere, Rui came running over to her. She bent down in the saddle to tell him to go back to Len and Jia, but he spoke first.

"They told me to give you this."

Rui held up a cloth pouch. She took it and unwrapped it. She took a sharp intake of breath. It was the bit with the Wei character Cao Pi was given at their wedding.

She looked at Rui.

"Where did you…?"

"Len." He simply answered. "Good luck, Mommy!"

With that said, he ran off. Zhen rewrapped the bit and tied the pouch to her belt. Then she looked up at the road ahead. She gathered the reins and shifted in the saddle so she was sitting up straight. Lastly, she squeezed Storm's sides with her heels.

"For Cao." She whispered as the entire force began to follow her out of the city gates.

x

Later that evening, Zhen stood in the main tent of the temporary camp they had made. She had both her palms resting on the table with the maps of Luoyang. She studied it closely, trying to figure out the best course, but she was no strategist. So she pulled out Storm's bridle and began taking it apart so that she could put the gold bit on it and ride him with it.

Outside the tent, the wind howled and the rain pounded down on anything in its way. The small flames of the candles struggled to stay lit.

Sima Yi came in the tent. He brushed his hands over his robes to smooth them out. However, they were already wet. So it was an uphill battle and considering that they were already facing one of those, he gave up.

"This rain will make our victory harder." He stated.

As if she didn't know that!

Instead of showing her frustration, she only nodded as she retied the leather so that it was wrapped around the ring of Cao Pi's gold bit.

"We won't be able to use ladders to scale the walls of the city. It will be too hard to find solid ground to place them with the rain washing the roads out." He explained as he moved to the other side of the table from her.

She looked up at him from her work.

"I thought we were going to send a task force to open the gates and storm the city. They're big boys. They can figure it out."

He didn't seem affected by her criticism.

"I don't want them messing everything up." He countered.

At least no one was here to see that he clearly knew what he was talking about, whereas she, did not. However, if this was going to turn into some kind of dominance war, she wasn't going to lose so easily as this.

"Are you recommending that we use grapple hooks?" She challenged.

"No." Sima Yi answered coldly.

"Good. Grapple hooks would clang around and make too much noise. They would draw more attention than if we fired a volley of arrows into the city."

Sima Yi didn't respond. He was waiting for her to say something stupid, or even more stupid. That, or he was waiting for her to tell him to figure it out himself. That would be handing him his little victory over her.

She wasn't sure way, but she got a sick feeling in her gut. She feared for her children, but they were safe. Sima Yi wouldn't make his move on them until Shu was finished. As he said himself, she had risen morale beyond what it's been for years and they all needed that to take out Shu.

She brought herself back to the present situation. She had to find a way to get the task force into the city.

"I prefer simple methods, Sima Yi."

He gave a look of annoyance. As if she was teaching him or reminded him or something in his schooling that he had forgot. She gloated in it.

"Send the task force in dressed as commoners looking for shelter from the storm."

Sima Yi smirked.

"You always do prefer… deceiving your enemies. You trick them into believing what you want. Then you attack. Like a snake."

She kept a steady gaze fixed on him. She knew he was referring to the suicide letter she had forged in Cao Pi's name. She decided to go along with it. He needed to know she wasn't some common woman.

"Of course, some snakes only pretend to be dangerous. When really, they're of no harm to anyone." He finished.

He was comparing to her to snakes. He was trying to figure out if she was dangerous or not with a very dangerous method, asking her. She would give him the response he wasn't expecting.

"Tell me, Sima Yi. Would you let yourself be bitten by a snake just to find out if it was venomous or not? Is it worth the risk?"

He looked at her long and hard, but she didn't falter. She kept her ground and she didn't back down. If he was sizing her up, she wanted him to be able to get an accurate assumption.

He wasn't going to say 'no'. That would tell her he was backing down and would submit to Rui's rule and hers until he took over. If he said 'yes' he may as well tell her that he was going to rebel once more.

Sima Yi turned his back to her.

"Maybe, but a cornered snake is always more dangerous than a comfortable one. However…"

He turned to face her again.

"I wonder what it would take to corner a comfortable snake. I suppose it would mean taking away everything that was ever important and putting them in a place that was unlike anything they've known."

Zhen's throat tightened. She had had enough of this 'code talk'.

"I'd rather focus on the task ahead than on an imaginary snake."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, she knew that they had been a mistake. She had just caved.

Suddenly, the annoying tapping and thudding of the rain on the tent stopped and not a moment too soon.

"Quick, send the task force out now! We might be able to get into the city before it starts up again."

Sima Yi marched off since he didn't have time to waste with getting in the final word. Zhen was right about this. They had to hurry or else they would have to charge into the city during a pouring rain.

Zhen grabbed her bow off of the table as well as Storm's bridle and rushed outside. The cold air was a shock to her lungs and skin. The misty air made her hair begin to curl, slightly. Not that she had time to worry. They were going to assault their own capital city.

Storm was brought out for her. Since there really wasn't any place to go quite yet, she only took the lead and thanked the stable boy. Then she put the new bit in the stallion's mouth and tied the leather into place. The stallion mouthed the new bit. He chomped it several times, as if to test it to see if it was any good or not. When he was finally satisfied with the new bit, he stopped chomping at it and held it quietly in his mouth.

Her thoughts wandered to Cai Wenji and the Liu sisters. Were any of them alive? Were they in danger of being murdered by Sima Yi as well? Maybe not Cai Wenji, but since the Liu sisters were supposed to be Cao Pi's consorts, they could be.

She shrugged off this line of thought, but what would happen if she met them again? They knew her as Lady Yin. What would they do when they learned she was actually Zhen Ji? They thought that she just took over Rui's care. They didn't know that she was actually his mother.

Just then the rain began to pour down. She was instantly soaked.

Ugh.

"Empress!" A foot soldier shouted above the noise of the rain.

Zhen turned as he stopped in front of her.

"What is it?"

"General Zhang Liao sends word, we're ready to move into the city!"

"Already?"

"Yes! He says that the gates of the city were left open for any civilians that needed shelter from the storm!"

Zhen turned to Storm and swung into the saddle. Storm chomped at the bit and pawed the ground with high anticipation. She gave the stallion a soothing pat on the withers.

"And so it begins. Tonight, we attack our own city."

She looked up at the sky as a bolt of lightning erupted from the clouds. Then the thunder crashed and rumbled. The rain drops stung her face. She closed her eyes and parted her lips.

"For you, Cao." She whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked at the lights that were lit in Luoyang. Then she lightened up on the reins. Storm took off at a high stepped lope. He kept his head held high and arched his muscular neck.

x

When Zhen reached the front lines, she found that they were ready to invade the city. Regardless of the pounding rain, they all stood at the ready. The city stood before them, completely unaware of what was about to happen, but before it did, Zhen addressed the soldiers.

"You all know why we're here. So I'm not going to remind you about the death of our emperor. These Shu barbarians murdered him. They claim to be loyal to the Han and yet, they would bring down the man that former Emperor Xian commended to rule. Kill every man in a green uniform, but remember. Those are our people down there. The women and children are innocent. Do not harm them!" She warned. "Now let's take our home back!"

The soldiers smiled and nodded in agreement since they were given strict orders not to shout. It would give their position away.

They slowly began to make their way to the open gates. When they were within range of the archers, they charged so that none of the Shu soldiers could get it closed on time.

The Wei soldiers flooded into the city like a wave.

x

The soldiers ran down the streets and deeper and deeper into the city. By the time they made it into the castle grounds, the alarm had finally been rung, but it was too late. The city was taken and there was no way for Liu Shan or Jiang Wei to fight back.

Zhen Ji and Sima Yi sat on their horses in the courtyard. The soldiers ran all around them.

"This won't be remembered, but we'll remember." Zhen stated.

"Why don't you think history will remember such a one sided victory?" Sima Yi questioned.

"Because this is a relatively small scale battle compared to others." She reasoned.

Her mood had been considerably lighter since the fall of the city.

Among the chaos, there was a loud shout.

"CALL OFF YOUR MEN!"

They both looked and saw Liu Shan standing on one of the upper level balconies. The entire courtyard fell silent.

"Call off your men, or the emperor dies!"


	12. Plans Change

Plans Change

Zhen's heart stopped.

Cao Pi was brought out. His hands were bound behind his back and his mouth was gagged, but he was alive!

Without feeling, Zhen leaped down from Storm's back and began running up the stairs to the castle.

"Zhen, stop!"

It was Zhang Liao's voice, but she didn't care. Cao Pi was alive! She had to get to him. Then, someone collided into her. They both crashed to the ground. Zhen landed on her side, hard. Hard enough that she cried out in pain. Regardless of the pain, she rolled over and got to her feet. Zhang Liao was lying on the floor before her. He was breathing hard and held his gut with one of his hands as he got to his knees.

"Zhen, you… can't… go up there." He told her between breaths.

"Why!?" She demanded.

"Because," Zhang Liao got to his feet. "because it's too dangerous for you. You aren't thinking straight. All you care about is Cao Pi."

"Of course I do!"

She turned to run, but the general grabbed her arm so tight that she couldn't pull it free.

"You'll get Cao Pi and yourself killed if you just go storming up there. Leave it to me, please."

When she stopped pulling her arm so hard, he let her go. She didn't run.

"Fine." She reluctantly agreed.

"Zhen, I have to warn you. Be careful around Sima Yi until I return. He wasn't counting on Cao Pi returning. He might use you as leverage to seize power directly from Cao Pi just like before. No doubt that he's already sent someone back to Xuchang to take care of Rui. I've already sent Xu Huang back to watch them."

She continued to take a few breaths.

"Come with me." Zhang Liao told her as he offered her his hand.

She didn't take it, but she followed him out of the castle.

x

A few minutes later, Zhen was back in her tent. She was looking at the map as if she could find some kind of answer to her problem.

Sima Yi came through the flap of the tent. Zhen grabbed the handle of the dagger she kept hidden in her belt by making it look like she had put a hand on her hip.

The wind had continued howling, so if it weren't for the cool breeze that blew in with him, she wouldn't have heard his entrance. All she could think about was Cao Pi and she wasn't in the mood to deal with his games.

"So Shu won't give us Cao Pi back until we pull out of Luoyang." He stated. "Those Shu buffoons have already begun fleeing back to Chengdu. There's a greater chance of them letting him go if..."

"Letting him go!" She screamed. "They're not going to let him go!"

Sima Yi only smirked. He moved close in front of her, but she stood her ground. Her grip on the dagger's handle tightened.

"Stop all the acting, Zhen. It's pointless now. I know that you know of my plans." He whispered. "I'm going to let Shu kill Cao Pi."

Her knuckles were turning white.

"You wouldn't. What will you tell the people?"

"That Shu murdered Cao Pi. That will rally them enough to fight even without you. Don't you see? The time has come for the Sima family to rise to power. I'll be everything Cao Pi was and more. I'll take over the army by spreading word of Cao Pi's death. Then I'll prove my dominance over his memory… by taking you."

She slapped him. Sima Yi held his chin and smiled. Before she could react, he wound his shoulder and sent the back of his hand across her face. The blow was so powerful that she was sent falling to the ground.

"Cao Pi's name will die! However, if you motivate me, then you won't have to die. Otherwise…" He didn't finish his sentence, he only gave her a lustful look.

She drew the dagger and slashed it across his face as he lunged for her. He jumped back with a surprised and painful yelp. She leaped to her feet and swung her dagger at him again. This time, he caught her arm and slammed his elbow into her wrist. She cried out as the dagger fell from her hand and tried to slam her other fist into his gut, but he caught that too. With both her arms caught in his hands, he gave her a powerful shove. She was thrown backwards and had her feet kicked out from under her by the table with the map still sitting on top of it.

Then he lunged down at her. One hand grabbed her throat. The other pinned one of her elbows down. She struggled against him, but her free arm wasn't of much use. She couldn't move it. He sat on her thighs and placed his knees overtop her wrists. She screamed as his knee crushed her useless arm. He paused for a moment.

"It's dislocated. Don't bother."

He used his claws to tear her dress open. She closed her eyes as he exposed her and feasted his eyes. She could feel him hardening over her thighs. She had screamed when he settled over her bad arm and no one had come. No one was coming.

Sima Yi didn't risk it. He grabbed her throat. His fingers griped her so tightly that she could barely breathe. It felt as if her head was swelling. She gasped for air, but it was in vain and her vision was dulling. She pushed her stomach up and brought her knees up to try and squirm out, but Sima Yi managed to work one of his knees between hers.

When there was a sharp sweep of pain, she knew that it wasn't only her vision to fade, but her honor as well.

No. He may have this victory over her, but he wasn't going to enjoy himself doing it. He certainly wasn't going to have her willingly, but not unwillingly either. He wasn't going to have the delight of her screams. So she simply laid there, numb and unreactive, just trying to breathe. She closed her eyes so that he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes and waited for it to be over.

x

Sima Yi decided not to wait. He wanted to seize power NOW. He clearly thought that this would advance his cause somehow. It wouldn't. Not unless she produced his heir, which he already had with his wife, several years ago. Why did he want her so much anyway?

Zhang Liao was off trying to save Cao Pi. Xu Huang was off to Xuchang to save Cao Rui and Xie. Zhen was alone with Sima Yi pinning her down.

All she had on was the white dress that she had worn under her armor. It wasn't white any longer.

Sima Yi left the tent with a victorious grin on his face.

When he was gone, Zhen began to gather her things. She threw pieces of armor into the corner of the tent. Other parts crashed into the table with the maps.

Calling herself 'Lady Yin' had only been a patch to cover her problems. Now the entire severity of the wound was revealed. As long as Sima Yi and Lady Guo breathed, her problems would never be over.

Now she had to get to Xuchang to stop Guo, but what about Cao Pi? Sima Yi was going to let him die and Guo was going to murder Riu and Xie! Also, Zhen knew that all that talk about sparing Dong Xiang had been lies. Maybe Sima Yi thought that she was a weak enough of a woman to fall for a trick like that. He was wrong.

"She's in there."

The voice brought her back to reality. The flap of the tent was pushed open. All she could see was the silhouette of a tall figure. There was a long moment of silence. She hoped that whoever it was wouldn't see her and leave.

"Zhen!"

She recognized his voice immediately. Why did he have to come now, now that her failure was so apparent?

Cao Pi rushed over to her and dropped to his knees in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands, but she kept her eyes low so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Zhen, what happened?"

Wasn't it obvious?

She couldn't answer because she was choking on her own tears. His hands moved down to her neck. She flinched at the sharp pain she felt. Sensing that something was wrong, he gently tilted her chin up. He was clearly over whelmed by the bruises he saw that were in the shape of a hand. Sima Yi's claw had dug into her flesh and left small spots that her blood trickled down from. She could feel all five streams going down the back on her neck and down her back. Four on one side and one on the other.

Cao shifted his weight to his feet then sat down so that there was a distance between them, just enough so that he had his legs between them. They stayed that way for a long time. When her eyes dared to look up at him, she found that it was another terrible mistake. It was more than he could stand. He got to his feet and marched toward the exit of the tent. Halfway there, he stopped and turned to face her. Then he decided not to say whatever it was he was planning to. She didn't say anything either.

It wasn't that she blamed him for being angry at her. It was that she was too ashamed to say anything.

"Who did this?" He demanded in a cold and flat tone that he had never used with her before.

For the second time, she let her eyes find his face. His skin was pale, but the color was disturbed by the beginnings of a beard. His blue eyes had a dangerous fire in them. His hair was messy and his clothing was torn, probably from being held captive for a month. Yet he still looked regal somehow.

She was afraid to answer his question, but she was afraid of not answering it even more. Her gaze fell.

"Sima Yi."

Cao Pi threw up his arms in defeat. He put one hand on his waist and ran his fingers through his hair with the other.

Tears began to fall freely off her cheeks. She had never been so ashamed in her life. Not only had Sima Yi violated her, he was off to kill their children with the help of the woman she should have killed. On top of that, she still hadn't taken Luoyang back.

Sima Yi had succeeded in tearing everything apart once again.

"Zhen…" His voice had become much more gentle when he saw her tears. "Zhen."

He moved over to her and kneeled in front of her once again. This time, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and cradled her to his chest. He began stroking her hair with gentle fingers. She felt like a child, but right now, that was just fine. In fact, it was perfect. She cried into his chest and let his dirty tunic soak them away.

"Zhen, it doesn't matter."

Then he pulled away slightly. He held her arms and looked her straight in her watery eyes.

"Zhen, it doesn't matter to me. I still love you. It doesn't matter. Even if you become…" He paused. "It doesn't matter."

She smiled, sadly. When she saw the dedicated seriousness in his eyes, she raised a hand to trace over the whiskers growing on his jawline with the tips of her first two fingers. Then she lowered her hand to cling onto the collar of his shirt.

"No, it doesn't." She agreed with more strength in her voice. "Nothing can come from it anyway."

"Neither one of us can know for sure, but it…"

"I know." She interrupted.

Cao Pi's look of compassionate determination turned to one of confusion, but he had given her that look three times before. She knew he was suspicious, but he would wait for her word to react. Just as he did the last three times.

"You're… Are you?"

Her sad smile became much happier.

"How far?"

"Almost three months."

Cao Pi let out a relieved sigh that was so meaningful she would never forget it. However, the tender moment wasn't destined to last.

"Cao, we have to go. Sima Yi is going to have Lady Guo to kill Rui."

"What!?"

"He never thought that Zhang Liao would get you out. Sima Yi is going to kill the boys so that he would have the most legitimate claim to the empire and he attacked me because he thought that since you taking me from Yuan Xi was a sign of your dominance over the Yuans that it would show his dominance over the Caos."

The color faded from Cao Pi's already pale face. He locked his jaw and his entire body stiffened.

"Zhang Liao sent Xu Huang back to Luoyang already, but I don't know if he'll get there on time. What are we going to do?"

Cao Pi took her hands in his and stood up. He was careful to not pull her up too hard so that he wouldn't hurt her. Her hand had been holding the remains of her dress up. Normally, she wouldn't have cared if she was half covered and half exposed in front of him. She was his, forever, but the bruises and the cuts were worse than embracing.

"We can't leave Luoyang to Shu any longer, but we can't leave Rui and Xie in Xuchang with only Xu Huang for protection. He can't watch three children at once."

He gave her an emphatic look.

"Zhen, I shouldn't be asking this of you, but you and Zhang Liao are the only ones here that I can trust. I need Zhang Liao and Xiahou Dun here to take Luoyang. Could you go back to Xuchang?"

She thought for a moment. Her body was shaking. Her skin was cold, yet it was sweating. Her legs felt weak and her knees might give out any second. Her shoulder was dislocated. Regardless, she nodded.

"Yes, I can go, but what if it's Sima Yi's old ally? Guo came back and…" She didn't finish her sentence sense the thoughts going through her mind were too unbearable to say out loud.

Cao Pi nodded his head, slightly.

"Kill her." He whispered.

He put a hand on either side of her head and tilted her forehead down until it was resting on his own. She put her hand on his forearms. Her dislocated arm hung limp at her side.

"I'll get back to you as soon as I can." He promised.

"I know you will."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She flinched when he crushed her bad shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He whispered just before popping her arm back into her shoulder.


	13. A Lover's Attempt at Revenge

I already started writing my fourth story to be posted on this site; 'The War of the Benders'! It's about the Dynasty Warriors characters with 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' powers. I'm super excited about it! I'll have a preview posted after the end of 'The Legend, Loyalty and Laments of Zhen Ji'.

Enjoy!

* * *

A Lover's Attempt at Revenge

Zhen raced Storm through the forest. Even though she knew she should be resting, she couldn't. Cao Pi had to finish what she started at Luoyang since he couldn't leave her alone there with Sima Yi. Zhang Liao would have been the best protection she could have got anywhere, but he couldn't watch for her safety and lead the assault on the city at the same time, even if they were winning.

Behind her were a dozen of Wei's finest elite guards. She knew she would make it to Xuchang in record time, but would it be fast enough? Guo had left hours before Zhen even knew about it and she would only need a few minutes to kill the children, if that.

They had been traveling longer than she could remember and with it raining once again, they were all soaked to the bone. Ahead, she finally saw the city walls of Xuchang. The gates had been left open. That was a bad sign. Someone with the authority to open them had just come through. It could have been Xu Huang or it could have been Guo. Either way, they raced into the city. Since it was the middle of the night, no one was on the streets. Good thing since the horses were going too fast to stop for anyone or anything.

Once they got into the courtyard, Zhen leaped down from Storm's back and ran up the stairs. It took the soldiers more time sense they were trying to figure out who was taking the horses to the stable, but Zhen didn't care she was racing down the hall to Rui's room. She turned the corner and found that Rui's door was wide open.

"No." She whispered before running through the door way.

In Rui's room, it was absolute darkness. She couldn't see halfway to his bed, but she did see a body lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. Zhen dropped to her knees and turned the body over. It was Shao Len. Her blind eyes looked back up at her and her face was left with a permanent look of despair echoed across it.

Zhen jumped to her feet. She blinked the angry tears away.

"RUI!" She screamed.

Just as she began to run to Rui's bed, something hit her in the back of the head. The monstrous pain paralyzed her body and she collapsed to the floor.

"Momma!" Rui's voice cried.

He was alive!

"Rui, run, get out of here!"

Then the door behind her was closed shut, leaving her and Rui in such darkness that neither one of them could see.

"Momma!"

Regardless of the dark, Rui had found his way over to her. With the world around her spinning, she sat up and protectively wrapped her arms around him tightly. Sensing her fear, Rui didn't fight it.

"Now isn't that sweet." A cruel voice stated.

Guo gave light to a candle, breaking the room's darkness, but only enough so that they could see her shape in the shadows.

"Who else have you killed?" Zhen demanded.

Guo moved in front of the door and locked it. The iron made a distinct clicking noise. There was no escape.

Then she saw that the key was still in the keyhole.

"Who else did you kill!?" She repeated with an even stronger voice.

Rui moved closer to her. She held him tighter.

Guo let out an annoyed sounding sigh and moved over to Rui's bed where she took a seat. She crossed one leg over her knee, leaned back comfortably and put all her weight on her left hand. Her right hand held something that shined in the candle light. It was long, thin and heavy looking. Zhen didn't have to second guess that it was the dagger that Guo used to steal Shao Len's life from her.

"Fortunately for you, you came barging in just as the maid dropped dead. Not that it will matter. Xu Huang is off trying to find his way out of the trap I sent for him in the woods. I must say, for Cao Pi to only send you and one officer… he must not care about his son very much."

Anger ragged through her with strength similar to the Yangtze River.

"Cao Pi took care of you! He could have dumped you on the streets and…"

"NO!" Guo screamed. "He did NOTHING for me. He left in Heibei when he learned that I was with child."

"Why do you think that is?" Zhen demanded.

Guo's face turned red.

"Zhi was kind to me! He loved me when no one else would! He was all I had and when you killed him…"

Zhen was shocked. Did Sima Yi really tell Guo that _she_ was the one to kill Zhi? She would have liked to, but it was Sima Yi to actually do it.

"I didn't…"

"SHUT UP! Just shut up!" Guo interrupted as tears began to fall freely down her bright red cheeks. "It was YOU! It was always you! You stole Cao Pi away from me before we even had a chance. You were the one to get Zhi banished. You had me stay at Xuchang!"

Rui clenched on to her. She held him tightly.

"You were sent to Hebei before Cao and I even met!" She argued. "That's not my fault. He may not have known what kind of monster you are, but he knew enough to have you sent away! If it weren't for me, Cao Pi may have taken an interest in you once again, but then you would have been forced away from Zhi."

There was a short silence. Guo eventually broke it.

"But you killed him." She whispered.

"I didn't kill Zhi!" Zhen pleaded, knowing how much the man had meant to her.

"If it weren't for you…"

"I didn't kill him!"

"You tore my family apart! Just by coming into our lives, you tore everything apart. Now, I'm going to tear your life apart."

"You already did, you're the reason that I had to take the name 'Yin'!" she cut in.

"I'm going to kill your children and Sima Yi's going to kill Cao Pi. You fool, you left him alone with him."

Guo pulled out her dagger.

"Rui, the door!" Zhen screamed.

Guo lunged for Rui, but Zhen leaped to her feet and grabbed her arm that held the dagger. The tip of the dagger could be no more than an inch away from her face.

She didn't know where Rui was. The door was open. She heard the key turn which Guo had left in the keyhole, but she hadn't heard footsteps.

Guo wasn't as strong as Sima Yi had been, but Zhen wasn't exactly in the best condition to fight with the back of her head still burning. She knew she wouldn't win the fight of blunt force, so she used strategy. She brought her knee up and sent it into Guo's gut.

Guo was winded. Zhen forced her arm with the dagger into the wall. There was a crack. Guo screamed out as she dropped the dagger. If it weren't for the darkness, Zhen would have been able to find it and pick it up. Instead of wasting time, she ran out and began calling Rui's name.

"Zhen!" Jia called. "What's going on?"

"Get Dong Xiang and Xie out of here, now! Find Xu Huang. He's out in the woods somewhere. Trust no one else."

Jia nodded and ran off.

"Rui!" She screamed as she continued running.

She ran down hall after hall. Eventually, she came to the courtyard in front of the palace gates.

"Rui!"

She heard footsteps.

"Rui?"

When she turned around, she found Guo charging her with the dagger in hand. Before she could react, Guo was upon her. Zhen grabbed the dagger once again, but this time, Guo was fueled by a powerful and unyielding rage. Zhen was losing the test of strength and the tip of the dagger was inching closer and closer to her nape.

Then she heard hoof beats. Both women looked to the side to see Storm galloping toward them without any rider, yet the stallion was headed right toward them. Only, Zhen couldn't pull away. That would give Guo the split second she needed to win the test of strength and stab through her throat.

"You killed Zhi!"

Zhen shook her head.

"Sima Yi killed Zhi. He killed Zhi and then blamed me to turn you against me. You're helping the man that murdered him. How could I murder Zhi? I was in the dungeon."

"Why would Sima Yi…"

"So he could have all the power. He wants all the Caos dead."

Guo's look turned to one of horror as she considered this.

As a result of neither one of them moving, Storm collided with them. The stallion's armored chest hit both of them. Zhen was thrown off her feet and landed on her back. Guo was thrown straight to the side, right under the path that Storm's hooves were going. Zhen heard a mixture of thuds, cracks and a muffled scream.

Zhen only laid there on the cobblestone. She had hit the back of her head again, but there was still Guo. She looked to the right, nothing. She looked to the left and saw a heap of hair, fabric and blood that lay motionless. Lady Guo was dead. It was a safe guess considering the amount of glistening fluid that covered her robes.

"Momma! Momma!"'

It was Rui's voice. She looked to the side and saw Storm. At not even six years old, Rui had managed to get up on the stallion's back and ride him into her and Guo. Now he also managed to get out of the saddle and back onto the ground by using the pommel and stirrup as bars on a ladder and Cao Pi's stallion just stood there, quietly.

"Rui." She whispered.

"I'm sorry, momma! I tried hitting her when I saw her after you and I know that she hurt you and…"

"No, it's alright, Rui. You did very well."

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. When she let him go, he hugged her shoulders, but she lifted him off and sat up. Unable to stand up straight without swaying or falling over, she crawled to Lady Guo's side. She wanted to make sure that Guo was dead. Even in the dark, she could see that Guo was covered in blood. Her chest was heaving up and down. She was still alive. She was also quivering every time she exhaled and there was a chocking sound every time she tried to draw a breath.

Guo saw her and slowly turned her head to face her.

"Don't… let Sima… get… away… with this…"

Then Guo's seemed to shrink in size until it eventually froze.

Zhen sat back down. Rui climbed on her lap. She was exhausted. She had been up for at least a full day, had the back of her head beaten, twice, was raped which her shoulder dislocated in the process and was completely soaked from riding in the rain all the way from Luoyang, but none of that mattered because Rui and the others were safe. Shao Len was the only casualty on their side. Why Shao Len? She never did anything to Guo. She was probably at the wrong place at the wrong time, simple as that. However, that moment Guo had to take to kill Len was just enough time to prevent her from killing Rui.

A few tears of mixed emotions began to spill down her face. Shao Len was dead, but so was Guo. Rui was alive and according to Guo, Cao Pi might not be for long, but he did know that Sima Yi couldn't be trusted. If anyone was capable of defending themselves against the likes of Sima Yi, it was Cao Pi.

x

The next morning, Zhen had Guo's body taken away so Rui wouldn't have to see what he had done to her. One of Storm's hooves hand stepped on Guo's neck and the steel shoe had torn through the flesh. So blood was everywhere. Another hoof landed on her chest. Zhen knew that it had been at least five ribs to make the cracking sounds that she had heard. As far as her hand went, two fingers had been pushed out of place when Zhen slammed it against the wall. Needless to say, Guo had died in agony, all for the serpent that had murdered the man that she had loved.

Now that she was dead, Zhen was capable of pitying her.


	14. Like Toys

Like Toys

The next morning, Zhen woke up to Rui standing next to her bed.

"Rui, what's wrong?"

"Momma, I killed her, but she hurt you and she was going to hurt you more."

Zhen sat up and pulled Rui up on her lap. He wasn't the least bit stiff. His entire body seemed tired and limp, aged. He was barely six years old and he had already brought about death.

"No Rui, you didn't kill her, Sima Yi did."

It was the truth. If Rui hadn't killed her, then someone else would have. Zhen would have tried and if she had failed, then Xu Huang or Cao Pi would have. No matter what, Sima Yi was ultimately responsible for Guo's death. He didn't have to lay a hand on her to kill her.

"The man that helps father?" Rui asked.

She nodded.

"Yes."

"Then why would he kill her?"

"Because, Rui, one day you will learn that everyone is selfish. Everyone wants more for themselves."

"Like when Xiang tries to take my toys away from me!" Rui put together, excited that he understood.

Like toys. In fact, she couldn't describe it better if she wanted to. The power of the imperial court was just like a toy to Sima Yi that he wanted all to himself. Only, this toy was dangerous, like a snake that was only safe for the snake handler. Yet, sometimes even snake handlers were bitten.

She let out a sigh and held Rui close.

"Rui, listen to me very carefully."

She looked him in the eye.

"What you did last night was the right thing to do, but I never want you to run a horse into anyone ever again. Okay?"

Tears swelled in his eyes He nodded and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Okay."

She knew that she didn't have to discipline him, but she also knew that he felt better after she had told him not to do it again. Rui liked knowing what he was allowed to and not allowed to do. Even if he pushed at those boundaries to the point that it drove everyone crazy.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."

A messenger stepped in.

"A letter from the Emperor, Empress."

He stepped forward and handed it to her. She opened it and read.

'_My dearest Zhen,_

_Luoyang has been reclaimed by Wei. Sima Yi has not said a word about you, but he knows that I know what he did. He's just waiting for the time to strike again. I received your letter about Lady Guo. We'll talk about that later. Zhen, I wish for you and the children to stay in Xuchang. I've sent Cai Wenji and the Liu sisters to you. When Luoyang is secure again, I will send for you._

_I love you,_

_Cao Pi_

Zhen lowered the letter and let it rest next to her on the bed. Cao never did sign 'Emperor' or 'Lord'. He never signed his letters to her with any title of any kind, but this had been the first letter he sent that called her 'Zhen'. It was always 'my flower' or something like that. She understood the reason for it. Wenji and the Liu sister knew her secret now. She didn't need to hide anymore.

She smiled and turned to Rui who was still sitting on her lap.

"What did Daddy say?"

"He says that we're going to have to stay here for a while. Rui, how would you like to have another little brother or sister?"

x

"I want a sister!"

"I want a brother!"

"But you already have a brother!"

"Rui, Xiang, play nice." Zhen shouted from her bench.

It had been a month since Guo's death. Zhen had decided to make her death appear to be a tragedy and give her a funeral that a wife of the emperor's deserved. However, she had been buried with her hair in front of her face and grain in her mouth so that she couldn't complain in the underworld. Guo had made the fatal mistake of betraying Cao Pi and trusting Sima Yi. She would have to deal with it in the afterlife. Besides, she was with Cao Zhi now. That only left Nu Ming to consider. She was the same age as Rui, his cousin even. What to do with her? She was the daughter of Guo Nuwang and Cao Zhi, so she should never have been born, but was she truly guilty of anything? She couldn't help who her parents were.

Zhen let out a long sigh when she realized what she had to do with this matter.

"Rui, Xiang, come here." She called.

Her two children came bouncing over to her.

"We weren't fighting." Rui insisted.

"I know, Rui. There's just something I want to tell you."

Both of her children looked at her curiously.

"You're going to have a sister."

Dong Xiang lit up.

"Yay!"

"Ugh, not another little sister!" Rui moaned.

"No," She corrected. "She's your age Rui. Nu Ming's going to be a part of our family now."

"Who?" Both children asked at the same time.

"Nu Ming is Lady Guo's daughter."

She wasn't going to tell them that she was their cousin, because that what secret information, but she wasn't going to lie to them and say that she was their half-sister either.

Jing Jia came from behind her.

"Zhen, are you sure?"

She nodded.

"I feel I owe it to her." She answered, referring to Nu Ming, whom she had stolen a mother from.

Jia looked skeptic, thinking she was talking about Guo.

"She tried to kill you, twice. She killed Len and…"

"Jia!" She interrupted. "Not in front of the children. Besides, this isn't about Guo, this is about Nu Ming. She deserves a chance."

"Would Guo do the same if you were the one that got killed? No, she would have…" Jia didn't finish.

"Momma, I don't want to be sisters with her." Rui stubbornly said.

Zhen took Rui up on her lap.

"Rui, I know you don't like it. Remember that you said that power is like a toy?"

He nodded.

"And power seeking men are bad?" She continued.

Rui nodded again.

"Well, what makes us good and them bad?"

"We are good!"

"But what makes us good, Rui?"

He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Love, Rui and justice. Nu Ming never did anything wrong."

"But her mom tried to hurt us!" He argued.

"I know, but would you like to be punished for something your father or I did?"

Xiang shook her head violently.

"No." Rui pouted.

"Then we won't punish Nu Ming."

Dong Xiang nodded excitedly. Why shouldn't she be excited? She was too young to understand the things that happened between her and Guo. All she knew was that she now had an older sister. Rui on the other hand, he killed his new sister's mother. He knew it too. He knew what death was. He was smart for his age, extremely smart and capable. He was an emperor in the making, as many people often said, including her.

"Rui, you will be a great man and emperor one day, but there are a few things you need to learn about people. One…"

"They always want more!" He interrupted.

She nodded and smiled.

"Yes, and two, you can never expect anyone to love you if you don't give them a chance and then a reason to."

"I don't want Nu Ming to love me."

Zhen smiled. He was so cute when he pouted like this.

"Then the first thing you need to know about being an emperor is this,"

Rui perked up.

"the people have to love you."

That was one lesson that she taught Cao Pi as well.

"Does that mean Nu Ming too?"

She nodded.

"Yes, it means Nu Ming too. Now go and play with your sister."

Rui understood everything she had said, but he didn't seem to like it at all. For a five year old, he was a stubborn, but exceptionally smart boy. He truly was his father's son.

x

It took another few days, but Cai Wenji and both Liu Ladies arrived at Xuchang. It was a happy reunion, as could be expected considering they were four women that were friends and hadn't seen each other in over two months. Although, it was slightly awkward when they sat down for tea in the northern courtyard. Zhen had to explain everything to them, beginning with Sima Yi's and Cao Zhi's initial plans of seizing power. She told them how everything went during the Battle of Xuchang and about the letters. However, she did leave out more of the… emotional… details. Then she explained that Cao Pi came up with the while Lady Yin scheme. Cai Wenji laughed, impressed with her and Cao Pi's cleverness. The Liu Ladies were shocked.

"Cao Pi never talked about Lady Zhen when we were in Luoyang." One of the sisters stated.

"How could he? Acting sad and refusing to talk about it was probably the easiest thing for him to do." Wenji reasoned.

"Easiest?"

"Well, he couldn't act mad since he was happy that Zhen actually was still alive and he couldn't act like he was happy. He isn't capable of even pretending that he would be happy by Zhen's supposed death. So being sad would be the easiest."

"I bet he was sad that you had to leave your family name behind you though. Along with your actual family too."

"He's never met my family and I don't really want him to."

Then Zhen told them about Lady Guo's death. Cai Wenji, as always, kept a level head and showed no emotion but calmness. The Liu Ladies on the other hand, bulged their eyes and nearly choked on their tea when she told then about what Storm's hooves did to Guo. Immediately regretting doing so.

"But I admire you for giving her a proper funeral." Wenji told her. "I know that I would not be able to do that. Nor would I take her daughter as my own."

"Wenji, you're the most honorable and proper person we know!" Both Liu sisters cried.

Wenji only smiled sadly. She lowered her gaze. Her eyes filled with memory. No doubt that they were of her own children that she hadn't seen in many years.

Just then, Nu Ming and Dong Xiang came over. Xiang was holding Nu Ming's hand as she showed her new sister around the castle. Nu Ming was a very pretty little girl. She inherited her mother's black hair and her father's dark skin. Zhen thanked the heavens that she also had the classic bold and light colored eyes given to the sons of Cao Cao. If she had her mother's hard, dark ones, it would be hard for her to look into Guo's eyes every time she saw Nu Ming.

The two girls skipped past then happily. Xiang tried to keep up. Nu Ming would often have to slow down for her. For never playing with other children before, she got along with Xiang wonderfully.

"Dong Xiang seems happy to have an older sister." Wenji stated.

Zhen nodded.

"Rui's been playing with Xiahou Zuo more and more often." She added. "Probably to avoid her."

She looked down at Xie who was sitting on her lap. He had grown, not a lot, but enough to notice. Her own stomach had grown more than any of the children. She was four months pregnant now and it was showing. The familiar weight was comforting in a strange way, probably because it wasn't possible that this was Sima Yi's child. She wouldn't be this far along if it was.

However, every time she thought of that it made her think about Sima Yi and that lead to whatever scheme he was boiling up next. Then this made her worry for Cao Pi, even though she did get a letter from him at least every four days or so. In the last one, he told her that he had already chosen a name if it was a boy or a girl. When Rui was born, she wasn't conscious to pick out a name, so Cao did and he chose every name since. Zhen didn't mind. He was better at it than she was anyway.

He chose Cao Yan for a boy, after her eldest brother and Cao Xia Lin for a girl.

Thinking about this made her wonder whether or not Cao Pi chose Nu Ming's name. Probably not since Guo was in Heifei when she was born. Did that mean that Cao Zhi named her? Doubtful considering that it would have completely given them away and they managed to keep their affair a secret.

She really had to stop thinking so much. However, it was an old habit that was going to die hard after being the Empress Dowager for a few weeks.

She rubbed a hand over her slightly rounded belly and smiled.


	15. The Capital

The Capital

It was a few weeks later when the time finally came for her to return to Luoyang upon Cao Pi's request. However, she would be the only one returning. The children were to stay in Xuchang. That way, they were away from Sima Yi. They had Xu Haung, the Liu sisters and Jing Jia as protection. No one else was allowed to have any contact with them, but it still wasn't very encouraging. An elite guard was placed on the palace wall that were ordered to let no one in unless they carried an order from she or Cao Pi himself. If Sima Yi, Sima Shi or any of their soldiers came, they were to be shot on sight.

So, being the woman she was, she went to Cao Pi in Luoyang even though she only had four months to go until their latest child would be born. It didn't matter to her though, being pregnant and away from the comforts of the castle. She hadn't been born and raised with palace luxury. So going without them wasn't a big deal.

She rode Storm out of the city with her personal guards as an escort, along with fifty other cavalry soldiers. Cai Wenji had wanted her to ride in a carriage, but it would have only slowed them down and that was time that she didn't want to waste.

Cai Wenji came up beside her. She rode on one of the older warhorses in the palace stable. Zhen had been teaching her how to use a bow and she wanted to help. She figured that it would be good to have company.

Zhen was greeted in front of the capital city by half the Cao Wei army and officers. Cao Pi was standing next to Zhang Liao, Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun. Sima Yi and Sima Shi stood a few paces off. Neither one of them looked too happy. Sima Yi looked as if he was going to meet his latest meal once again. Sima Shi looked embarrassed by the whole situation. His normally strong and demanding attention demeanor looked just pain humble and weak.

Pathetic.

There were two other people there that she didn't know. One was a tall man with light hair dressed in casual looking robes. The other was a short woman at his side with light hair as well. It was strange because she was much too young for her hair to begin to grey. Her young face was cold with icy eyes. The fury that Zhen could see in her was hidden behind a calm, regal and demanding demeanor. Almost the same as Zhen's was.

She stepped down off of Storm and embraced a very relieved looking Cao Pi. She took in his scent and felt herself instantly relax and weaken at the knees. Her enlarging belly pressed against his. They eventually pulled away, but Cao kept his hands over the growing child. From the corner of her eye, she could see Sima Yi eyeing the gesture suspiciously for a moment before realizing. Anger flashed in his eyes, shattering his unreadable demeanor for a split moment. Zhen grinned, but didn't take her eyes off Cao's. Sima Yi may indulged himself inside her, but Cao Pi was too much of a man for his wife to become pregnant with any other man's child.

Cao offered her his arm. She slipped her wrist through the cock of his elbow.

The soldiers cheered as they proceeded to the castle.

Zhen grinned. Oh gods how she had missed what victory felt like.

x

The two people she hadn't recognized before where Sima Zhao and his wife Wang Yuanji.

x

Now she understood why Cao Pi made her wait so long before sending for her. Luoyang was in ruins. The fight had been as easily won as everyone thought it would be, but houses were chard and arrows were still everywhere. The cleanup was going to be a long one.

"Where is everyone?" She asked Cao as they walked through the city to get to the palace.

"I spent them to the camp you set up in the valley. They'll stay there until the city is ready for them again."

"When will that be?"

"When the well has been cleaned, their homes rebuilt and the crops sent from other towns, they'll be able to come back."

She nodded. She almost tripped on a fallen board that used to be a part of a market vender's booth, but Cao caught her arm and pulled her back up.

"Cao, maybe you should let them back in as soon as the well is cleaned. They can help rebuild their homes."

"But how will they eat?"

"Supplies are being sent for and the home Cai Wenji and I have built has a whole store of food."

"That won't be enough."

"Cao, we aren't their parents. People can fend for themselves. The restaurant owners will get their businesses started as soon as they can. Tell them to send their children to other family. We need as many strong pairs of hands as we can get. Besides, that's what you're famous for, not telling the people what to do and letting them thrive with as little interference from us as possible."

He nodded.

"Alright."

x

Later that evening, she and Cao Pi were in the castle. Unlike the city, the castle was completely untouched. After the people had been evacuated by the Shu forces, Cao Pi ordered the city to be burnt to force the Shu generals out. However, they managed to escape by breaking through Wei's lines on the west side of the city, which were weaker because the main gate was on the south side and that is where Cao Pi concentrated the attack.

The fires had been put out almost as soon as the Shu generals had left, but in the process of putting the fires out, the water had become contaminated and unsafe to drink.

"You could have gone after them with a small force." She told him, referring to the Shu generals.

She rested her head on his bare chest as he read a scroll. She hated it when he brought business to bed, but considering recent events, she was just happy to have him.

"I know, but the city was burning. It took the majority of the army to get the flames out before the emergency food stores burnt. By then, Liu Shan was gone. That small force would probably have all been killed. It would have taken an assassin at that point and I don't hire assassins. They're the backup system that cowards use."

She smiled. Cao had put the people first. Had he simply chased after him, their food stores would have burnt and they would have no city to return to. It would have just been ruins in the middle of a field.

He lazily placed the scroll on the side table next to him. Then he settled down next to her and pulled her closer. He gently caressed her shoulder he had forced back into place almost a month ago with his battle scared and calloused hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What do you think that Sima Yi was thinking when he saw that I was already with child?" She asked.

She heard Cao let out a quick breath.

"Hmph. He probably realizes that he made a grave miscalculation."

She smiled. She shifted into a more comfortable position and ran her palm across his torso. His body had become soft during his months in the dungeon, but he was already using his spare time to train again. He would swing his sword against Zhang Liao or Xiahou Dun while Zhen read out loud the supply reports or the progress made on rebuilding the homes that were destroyed or even the latest body count reports.

"He probably didn't count on you being the man that you are." She added.

He grinned. There was a long, peaceful pause. For a while, the only sound to be heard was that of the wind outside. She didn't normally praise him in such way. It had been her way to tease him into proving himself and frankly, he wasn't up to his normal standard, but that really didn't matter.

"How were the children about being left in Xuchang?" He eventually asked her.

"Rui really misses you and so does Dong Xiang."

Rui adored his father and Dong Xiang was a complete Daddy's girl, but Zhen did spend enough time with them that she hopped they loved her just as much. However, she knew that they needed their father right now. Only, neither one of them were there. Now that Len is gone, that was one more person they would be without. They did have Jia though. They also had Xu Huang and the Liu sisters. It wouldn't be the same for them, but at least they had someone.

Cao let out a sigh.

"I wish I could have had them come too."

"It's too dangerous." She argued, trying to keep him from being too hard on himself.

"I shouldn't have had you come."

"Don't say that!"

Now she was afraid that he was going to send her away.

"If it's too dangerous for the children…" He didn't finish.

She knew that he wasn't calling her feeble or helpless. He was referring to their unborn child inside her, but she still didn't want him to say it.

She pushed off the bed so that she could lean over him.

"Sima Yi won't go after me again." She firmly told him.

"How do you know?"

"What good will it do him now? I'm already with child, your child." She took his hand and placed it on her belly. "He saw what happened when you thought I was dead back then… back in Xuhang. If he comes after me again, you won't stop until you kill him and he knows it."

"Then where will that put me? I'll be alone and the people won't follow an emperor who murders his strategist." Cao argued.

"And where will Sima Yi be? Dead, that's where. If he wants his family to take over, he wants to do it in his lifetime so he can enjoy the power he'd get. When he seizes power, he wants to make sure to do it safely, but not quietly. He'll want it to leave an impression."

"Unless it's an ambush."

"True, but the people would revolt if he just killed you. Then we'd be right back where we started at the very beginning, chaos. Sima Yi knows that much."

She laid back down next to him and assumed her previous position with her head on his chest, but she still held onto his hand.

"When did you learn so much?" He asked.

"Cai Wenji. She and I talked a lot about how Sima Yi will try and take control."

She decided not to talk about her experiences when she was empress dowager too much.

"To think that a governor's daughter…"

Oh no. He wasn't going to go back to that about how she started out so low and rose to the height she was at now. So she jabbed a finger into his ribs.

"Aw!"

"I thought that we were past that." She said in a tone that was playfully bitter.

Cao only chuckled.

"Why is Cai Wenji here?" He asked.

"She wants to help and I need someone to spend some time with."

"Am I not enough company for you?" He teased as he moved over top of her.

She smiled as she responded, unable to keep a straight face.

"No, I think that you're too much at times."

A sharp pain shot throughout her shoulder as he bit down on her nap. She laughed.

x

Zhen never told him, but she didn't sleep a wink that night. She too was afraid for the children. Strange considering when she was with them, all she wanted was some peace and quiet. Now that they were separated, she couldn't bear to not hear their voices or laughter. It felt like that she was homesick for them. She was also homesick for home.

She wanted to go back to Zhongshan so badly, just not have Wang Bo or Zhen Dao there. She wanted to see Wang Ping Shi, her niece. Yu had married Lan Hua, a pretty girl from down the road. Oh wait, she and Lan Hua were the same age. Hua wasn't a girl anymore. AH! She must have had the child by now. She was expecting any day soon when Zhen was in Zhongshan. So Zhen also had a new niece or nephew and she had never even heard from them which it was. Why didn't they write to her!? Now that Dao had been exposed, there was nothing holding them back from writing, unless her father had forbid it. That was likely considering how he had shoved her out of their lives.

Yan also found someone. Rong didn't tell her who it was, only that they spent the entire late afternoon and early evenings together every day. Why didn't they write to her!?

Then there was a warm light on her face, sunrise. She peeled her eyes open. The bright morning light was almost blinding it was so bright. It felt wonderful.

She must have just fallen asleep, because she was startled when she felt Cao stir next her.

"What time is it?" She drowsily asked.

"Just after sunrise."

So she managed to get a few hours of sleep.

She pushed off of the sheets and raised herself into the sitting position.

"Zhen, stay in bed. You're still exhausted."

She wasn't going to object to that, but before she could sink back into the cod, a knock on the door sounded. She covered herself with the sheets as Cao moved to the door and opened it.

"Emperor Cao Pi, Empress Zhen has received a letter."

"From who?"

"The governor of Zhongshan."

"My father!"

All sleepiness was immediately washed away from her entire being.

Cao took the letter and carried it over to her after closing the door. She took it from him and was unable to open it fast enough. Her eyes almost bulged from their sockets. It was from Dao!

'_Ji,_

_Father asked me to write to you. He heard of Cao Pi's victory and would like to visit while his health is still good. Hua had her baby a few weeks ago. A boy they named Zhen Ren. Yan is going to get married to Lu Chen, the blacksmith's daughter, by winter._

_Zhen Dao'_

She handed the letter to Cao Pi for him to read. She wasn't sure what to think. Her father probably forced Dao to write it to try and make up her treachery, but no matter what she wrote, nothing she could possibly say could make up for it.

Cao Pi put the letter down. She had already told him everything that happened after she had fled from Luoyang, so he knew that she had gone to Zhongshan and what had happened there.

"Short and sweet." He concluded.

"Dao has always been that way." She confirmed. "Except for the sweet part." She added in a mumble.

Cao Pi sat down next to her on the bed.

"And no doubt that Wang Bo is that way too, short."

A grin spread across Zhen's face.

"It's probably why they only have one child." She added as she sank back down into the sheets.

Cao Pi flipped the letter to the side. It landed somewhere on the floor. He leaned over her with a hand on each side of her waist.

"I could stay here with you all day."

"You've got a city to rebuild." She reminded him.

He sighed, defeated. He leaned his head down on her shoulder and kissed it, right on the bruise he left there last night.

"I think that you're the only Empress in history to ever deny her husband so that he could actually get something done."

She grinned.

"If I'm not the one pushing you to get something done, I doubt that anything would."

He laughed. His hot breath on her shoulder sent a chill down her spine.

"Just think, tonight we'll be able to spend dinner together and then simply go to sleep without having to put the children to bed."

Cao raised himself to his palms. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're planning on sleeping?" He asked as a grin formed on his lips.

Zhen gave his shoulder a shove. He was flipped over onto his back next to her. She moved over top of him with her knees on either side of his waist.

"You get that well cleaned and I'll make sure that the cooks have our dinner ready early tonight." She leaned in close to him and whispered. "I'll also make sure that there won't be any late night messengers."

With that, she quickly got up and moved away from him before he could grab her and neglect his duties as emperor.

x

The well was clean and safe for drinking by midday.

x

Zhen had kept her promise. Not a single messenger, servant nor chamber maid came in their room after sunset. Cao Pi also kept his word. She didn't sleep that night.

x

It took a few weeks, but the city was finally beginning to rise back up to its former glory. The people had been let in. As she had predicted, the restaurant owners were the first to recover and thrive on all the hungry people. Cao Pi handed out limited rations to prevent the restaurant owners from raising their prices too high by giving them some competition. It had become Zhen's charge to distribute the rations and make sure no one took more than their fair share.

Zhen handed a young woman a package of raw rice.

"How are we supposed to eat this?" She asked her.

"You are more than welcome to make a fire and the water in the well is clean." Zhen explained.

The woman smiled and left.

Zhen stood up and put a supporting hand under her swelling belly. It was obvious now and she could no longer wear her dresses that flattered her previously petite waistline. She moved around the bench she had been sitting on. She needed some air and water. As she walked, a squeak came to her ears. She jumped to the side and searched for the source. A rat scurried away. She scowled and continued to the surface and out of the cellar.

"Have some traps set up. There's rats in the cellar." She told Cai Wenji.

Wenji nodded and left.

The previous days had been beastly hot. The air was sticky with moisture, as was her forehead. The days of autumn were hot, but the nights were cold.

She left the castle's storeroom and emerged into the courtyard. There was a short line left of people waiting for their due rations. They all bowed to her and stepped out of her way as she past.

She found another bench on the far side of the courtyard. She sat on it and enjoyed the breeze that blew on her face and cooled her skin. She closed her eyes for a moment. When the sound of Cai Wenji's voice came to her ears. She opened her eyes and looked up at Wenji.

"The traps have been sent for."

"Good," She looked over at the line of people still waiting for rations. "how many more…"

That's when the world stopped. Right there in line was her father, her brothers, Dao and Wang Bo. Dao spotted her gaze first. Then Wang Bo, her father and then lastly, her brothers.

Just then, Cao Pi came galloping on his horse into the courtyard from the castle's main gate. He rode right past her family, not even noticing them. Why would he? He had never met them before.

A dozen soldiers, Zhang Liao, Cao Ren and a handful of his council, Sima Yi among them, all on horseback followed on his horse's heels. Sima Yi gave her the usual lethal glare. She normally returned it with a smug smirk, but not this time. Her family was here, in Luoyang.

"Zhen!" Cao Pi called as he leaped off of his horse's back.

He rushed towards her. His face was pale, his bow was creased with worry and his body was stiff with stress, not at all the man that left their chambers this morning.

"What's wrong?"

He grabbed her arm and beckoned for the nearest soldiers to come.

"Zhen, these men are going to take you inside and make sure that no one enters our chambers."

She clung onto his arms holding her.

"Cao, what's going on? You're scaring me."

He swallowed.

"The plague has come to the city."


	16. Plague

Sorry that I'm submitting such a sad chapter on Christmas, but this was the first chance I had to update in quite a while. So I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas!

* * *

Plague

The first death caused by the plague happened only a few hours after Cao Pi had confined her to their chamber. It had been a ten year old boy to die. That's all that Cao had told her, but she managed to get a few details from the servants passing by.

How could this happen, just when the city was beginning to recover? Just when her family came!

Cai Wenji was pacing around the room as Zhen sat on the bed. She held a hand over her growing stomach. No food had been sent. She wasn't sure if she was just hungry, or if the child was making her.

"Maybe they're wrong. Maybe it's not the plague. Maybe the boy just had some bad water and…"

"Wenji, bad water wouldn't have caused his nose and mouth to bleed uncontrollably!" She interrupted.

Wenji wasn't satisfied.

"Plenty of things could have caused that."

"Could anything else also cause that boy's fingers and toes to rot while he was still alive?"

Wenji didn't say anything.

"Plague has come to the city, what more evidence does anyone need to see that?"

Wenji still didn't speak.

Cao Pi had handed her off to a group of guards. They had taken her to her and Cao Pi's bedchamber and made her lock herself in. The guards also took Wenji to Cao's chambers as well sense she had been standing right there when Cao first told her. So now both of them were locked in. Even though the doors were locked from the inside, those guards were still right outside to keep anyone from entering.

"At least your children aren't here." Wenji mumbled.

Zhen's heart missed a beat. She hadn't even thought of that. Thank the gods that the children weren't here, but half of her other family was.

"Sitting here like this is doing nothing good for my nerves."

Zhen moved over to the balcony so that she couldn't hear Wenji's grumbling, but Wenji followed her and stood next to her at the railing.

"I bet half of the citizens are going to leave and spread it."

"Wenji! I can't listen to this!" She interrupted. "You're putting to words all my thoughts and greatest fears that I've been pushing out of my mind sense Cao told me."

She moved back over to the bed and laid on her slightly rounded stomach. She picked up Cao's little letter book and began reading. Most of the poems were either about her or the children. A few were about the frustrations about being emperor. There was also a couple about the thrill of victory in battle or the grave disappointment in losing a battle. One was about living in the shadow of his father. She read the one her had first wrote about her, when they first met.

_'Her hair is like a veil of black silk flowing after her and covering her face of marble that's somehow hiding the emotions I know she is feeling. With every gaze from her gold like eyes comes a breath stealing wind that captivates my soul.'_

There was a knock at the door.

"Zhen, it's me."

She leaped off of the bed and rushed to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open. Then she leaped into Cao's arms and wrapped her arms around her neck. He held her tightly before sending Wenji out to her own chambers that he must have deemed safe. He shut the door behind her.

"What's happened?"

"I've divided the city into two. Families with sick members will go to the east side. Everyone else will stay on the west side. No one is to be allowed back into the castle now. The gates were locked hours ago. The soldiers were sent to the camp so that they will stay healthy. For the next few days, everyone in the castle is on lockdown. When we know that the plague hasn't entered the castle, I'll gather my council and figure out what to do."

She could still barely believe that this was happening. Why now?

"How will we defend ourselves if Shu attacks?"

"They won't attack a city infected with plague. I'm worried that they will attack one of my other cities while I'm here."

She saw the threat. All of Wei's attention would be drawn to Luoyang. They might not put as much attention to their own area to see if they were going to be attacked.

"We'll have to send a messenger to tell all cities to be ready for an attack and to keep away from this area."

"That's not a problem. I've told the men to kill anyone who tries to leave the city. We cannot allow this to spread."

She wrapped her arms around her middle. How could this be happening?

x

Zhen didn't sleep well that night, but for a very different reason than that of a few nights ago. A little girl had died earlier that day. Her mother screamed and cried so loud that it made Zhen silently cry for a while. Cao Pi didn't sleep well either. She had fought so hard to get him back and now she might lose him again. He had been in the home that the boy had died in, so had the other generals.

x

The gates to the city were locked as well as those to the castle itself. No one was allowed in or out of either one. More and more died. Not everyone was taken by it, but once it took a hold, no one was spared. There was no cure. There was no escape.

Everyone walking through the street held a cloth to their mouth to breathe through. Only the starving and desperate came for the castle's rations, which were served by being thrown over the castle wall. At least, that's was she observed sense she was no longer permitted to distribute them. No ill person was allowed near the well, but it was near impossible to get a soldier to stay stationed there.

The only way for the council to meet was if some soldiers down in the courtyard relayed messages. So Cao would spend hours out on that balcony. She would be pacing on the other side of the room half the time. When he came in, he would pace over the trail she had left. Their chambers had become a mess. Every so often Zhen would try and busy herself and clean it up, but with all the reports and orders and messages that came in every day, it was impossible.

One morning, she woke up sick. She could hardly believe her stomach had as much food in it as it did. Cao Pi had to help her back into bed. She had no strength left and everything faded into darkness.

x

The next time she woke, whenever it was, she woke with a painful scream escaping her lips. She had felt the child move before, but now the baby was treating her like a training dummy.

Cao Pi called for a physician, but the physician wasn't allowed in until they were certain that he wasn't sick with plague. By then all Zhen could do was lay on her stomach to try and relieve the pain. The nightgown she was in was plastered to her skin by her own sweat. Her skin was pale. Her hair was a matted mess. She knew what was wrong with herself. She was pregnant in a city of plague.

The physician checked her fingers, toes and other areas that made Cao Pi uncomfortable with the man. Maybe she would have been uncomfortable too, if she had the energy for it.

"Well?" Cao Pi asked impatiently.

"It's not the plague, emperor."

"Then what is it?"

Zhen was lying on her side of the bed. Cao was sitting on his. The physician was standing over her. She reached her hand over to where she thought Cao Pi's was. He found her hand and held it before she was able to find his.

"Exhaustion." He said simply. "She needs more food and water. This may be your most demanding child yet, empress."

She didn't need a physician to tell her that.

x

The next day, Cao Pi woke up sick. The physician again determined that it wasn't plague, but that same physician died of it that evening.

She knew that Cao Pi was only sick with worry. So many times when he thought she was asleep, she had heard him say

"I'm sorry I did this to you."

It wrenched her heart to hear him say that, but rather him than Sima Yi.

She didn't speak of her family, but she did search the casualty lists for their names. She never found them, but there were plenty of unnamed victims. Her family could have been among them and she would never know, but her father was still the governor of Zhongshan. If a governor or his children died, wouldn't they be recognized?

They would be alright. They would just have to be.

x

It had been only a few days, but the dead were piling up. Zhen watched from her window as massive graves were being dug on the horizon.

"It cannot go on like this."

The castle had been untouched by the plague, but the people were dying and what good was an emperor with no empire? How long could their luck hold?

"No, it can't and it won't." Cao Pi added. "The council is going to meet tomorrow to discuss our options on containment, treatment and what to do about the defense of the other cities."

Zhen turned.

"You cannot be serious."

He only looked up at her, expressionless.

"We don't know how this spreads. It would be in the air, the water or it travels from one victim to the next. Who knows?"

"So what are we to do, stop eating out of fear that the plague is in the bread?"

She approached his desk, where he sat and kneeled down beside him. She put her hands over his.

"We shouldn't expose ourselves to any unnecessary risks. You least of all people. Cao, I lost you once. I won't let you…"

"Zhen," He interrupted as he cupped the side of her face with his spare hand. "Please, just trust me."

"I do, but I don't trust that."

She pointed out the window.

"Something must be done." Was all Cao Pi said in response.

That's when she knew that there was nothing she could do to talk him out of this. She pressed her cheek against his palm, as if that could engrave the feeling of his hands into her memory more so than they already were.

Zhen stood up and pulled away from him. She stood up a little too fast and it caused a headache. So she went over to the bed and laid down.

x

When almost a quarter of the city was dead and word came that the plague had spread to Hefei, where Wu had been attacking their borders, that's when the important members of court were moved to some small and isolated estates in the country. Only a little after that did they hear that Wu made a fast retreat from Hefei.

She and many of the generals were moved to a village in the mountains. They couldn't see Luoyang, but they could hear when the bell was rung for every death. Only once for every death, but it rang for the entire morning most days.

She shared a small house with Cai Wenji. They had a handful of servants with them, but it wasn't enough to be anywhere near as comfortable as any empress before her would have been during pregnancy. However, unlike most other empresses, she had not been born into the luxuries of court life. So it wasn't hard to adjust back to life without them. She was limited to what she could do. She usually helped cook the rice sense that required little work, more time than anything else. She knew that she wasn't doing her share of work, but she had no energy for anything else.

Cao Pi came and went. Sometimes he was gone for days at a time, but when he was there, she made sure to feign her health for him. He was trying to run the empire from a small village. It must be wearying. She couldn't even imagine it. So she made sure that she wasn't another thing for him to worry about.

But Luoyang was dying. More and more by the day. She didn't know where her father or the others where. She didn't speak of them to anyone, hoping that maybe not speaking or thinking of them would make her forget. She would have to forget about them, or she'd spend half her time worrying about them and she'd go insane.

When word reached them that the plague had moved as far north as Xuchang, there was no calming her down. She screamed and cried for four days before Xuhaung finally arrived at their little village with the children. Cao Pi had sent for them as soon as he heard about Xuchang.

Cao Pi made sure to be there when the children arrived. Rui and Dong Xiang nearly tackled him to the ground. She approached Jing Jia to kiss Xie, but Jia placed Xie on his feet and pointed him in her direction.

"My god." She whispered.

Xie clumsily walked to her. She kneeled down to hug him, but picking him up was out of the question. She still had a few months to go, but she looked like she was ready to give birth in a few weeks, she felt like it too.

She should have realized that Xie had come old enough to begin walking, but she just hadn't thought of it. There had been too much else on her mind.

Nu Ming stayed by Jing Jia's side. Zhen extended her arm for Nu Ming to run into. A broad smile crossed the girl's face and she came at Zhen running.

Cao Pi scooped Rui and Dong Xiang into his arms. It had been almost a year sense he saw them last, but it was almost like they had never been parted at all.

Jia had to help Zhen stand up again, Nu Ming refused to let go of her hand.

"Are you sure you weren't supposed to have this one last week?"

"Any day now. How long has Xie been walking?"

"Awhile."

Cao Pi started toward their little courtyard with a well and one lone bench. Jia picked up little Xie and held him with one arm while helping Zhen keep up with the other. Nu Ming still clung to Zhen's other hand.

When they finally made it to the courtyard, she found Cao Pi chasing Rui and Dong Xiang through hallways, as little of them as there were.

"Don't you want to go play with them?" She asked Nu Ming who shuck her head.

That's when Zhen realized, Nu Ming had never really been around Cao Pi much. All she'd know of him is what Guo would have told her and then what she would have heard the other children say.

"Then would you like to sit with Jia and I?"

She nodded.

Zhen slowly eased herself down on the bench. Nu Ming hoisted herself up between Zhen and Jia.

"How have the children been?"

"Exhausting. Xie never gives up trying to keep up with Rui. Whenever I could finally get him to forget about, he'd try writing or painting. Nu Ming and Dong Xiang are like sisters. They usually play empresses all day. Every once in a while, Rui will join in and be their bodyguard and save them from bandits, but most days he just followed Xu Huang around."

She laughed.

"And how did Xu Huang take to having a second shadow following him?"

Suddenly, it felt like the plague had never came at all.

"He was uncomfortable with it at first, but it didn't take too long for Xu Huang to get used to it. Before we left, Xu Huang started teaching him how to use a wooden sword he had made for him."

"That's something Cao Pi should have been able to do." She said sadly.

She looked over at where he was still playing with Rui and Dong Xiang.

"Liu Shan is too much of a weakling to raise a sword without help and Jiang Wei is not his former master. He's failed everything sense Zhuge Liang's death. There's only one person that could have thought of capturing him."

"Who?"

"Huang Yue Ying, Zhuge Liang's wife. I met her at Wuzhang and spared her life because Zhuge Liang just died and she was going to have to raise their son on her own. That life was what I have feared most sense I fell in love with Cao Pi. So I pitied her and showed her mercy and this is how she repays me. Next time we meet, I am going to kill her."

Jia was silent, until Zhen changed the conversation.

"How were they? Did any of them get sick?"

"No. Have all the arrangements been made for the birth?"

"Yes."

Her birthing pavilion was one of the spare guest rooms of the house. When she was done with it, then it would become the childrens' room. Until then, they would share a room with Jia, which had previously belonged to Cai Wenji, but now she was sharing a chamber with some of the women servants. This house simply wasn't meant for holding this many people.

Cai Wenji was watching the children from a distance, beside Zhang Liao.

"She's so good with the children. They never fight around her." Zhen said, speaking her thoughts aloud.

"She did have two boys of her own… once."

"I wonder if mine remind her of her own."

Zhen gently rubbed her swollen belly.

"It won't be long." Jia encouraged. "Cao Pi even summoned Yong Li to deliver him or her whichever it is."

Yong Li was the physician to save her and Rui during his birth. There was no physician Cao Pi trusted more.


	17. Something Bright

Something Bright

It turned out that Cao Pi hadn't summoned Yong Li a day too early. When she woke up that morning, she woke with a scream. She closed her eyes and arched her back to try and ease the pain, but it didn't work.

She heard Cao Pi's voice shouting for Yong Li and Jia.

Jia arrived first. Between her and Cao Pi, they were able to get Zhen out of bed. Cao Pi wrapped her in one of her robes before they started out. Jia and Cao both held one of her arms as she slowly walked. SShe had chosen the chamber nearest her own for her birthing chamber and the walk wasn't long, but it seemed halfway across the empire now.

"Wait. Just wait here a moment."

Jia began telling her that the chamber was just around the corner, but she wasn't listening. It was all she could do just to breathe.

Then her insides began turning inside out. She dropped to her knees and screamed. Cao Pi scooped her limp body up in his arms and swiftly ran the rest of the way to the chamber. Cao Pi kicked the door open, making Yong Li jump in surprise.

"Everything's been prepared." The physician assured them.

Cao Pi set her down on the bed with fresh linens just before Jia chased him out.

x

Giving birth was supposed to get easier after the first child, but Rui didn't come near as hard as this one did. The pains didn't last half as long though. She arched her back one last time and felt an enormous weight lifted off her back. Then she went completely limp once again.

Then there was a cry, a deep angry little cry.

She grinned as she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"A boy!"

Another heir.

A maid she had hired sense her time as coregent took the child away to be washed. Zhen remained where she was, unwilling to move. She could have fallen asleep right there, regardless of the sweat and blood, but then, her legs began to ache again.

"We need to get you washed up too… Zhen?"

Her insides started twisting again. She bent her knees and pressed her palm into her stomach, her still round stomach. Another wave of pain crushed down on her middle.

"Yong Li!"

The physician came running.

Zhen let out one last scream and with power she didn't know was still left in her, she brought another child out into the world.

This child's scream was deafening, shrill and piercing. Yong Li announced that it was another boy.

"Are you sure you don't have any more in there?" Jia teased.

"Cut me open and take them out if I do."

Zhen slowly pushed herself off the bed. She would have to wash so that she would be decent to introduce Cao Pi to his sons.

"Do they resemble their father?"

"Even more than Rui does." Jia assured as she help Zhen pulled herself out of the bed.

"Well Empress Zhen, you continue to surprise me." Yong Li told her.

She let out a laugh. Her mother had died a childbirth. That was never a good sign to any of her daughters, but Zhen had brought five children into the world and two of them were twins.

"Let's hope that I never do again."

Rui, the twins. She had had enough of high-risk births.

x

Zhen had washed and dressed herself in a white robe. Her hair looked like silk as it cascaded down her shoulders and to the small of her back. She sat on her bed and leaned against the headboard, resting with her eyes closed. The twins shared the cradle at the foot of her bed. Only one had been prepared. They only had one, but both babies slept quietly in it. The silence was serenity itself.

Cao Pi entered the room. There was a worry line between his eyebrows. She smiled as he approached.

"Zhen, what happened?"

She pointed her chin at the crib.

"Go look."

He gave her and unsure look, but moved over to the crib. He froze. She would never forget the look on his face when he meet his newest sons for the first time.

"Two." He whispered. "Boys?"

She never remembered smiling bigger. She never saw him smile bigger. He could hardly contain his joy. He took a few steps back and combed his fingers through his hair.

"Two boys! Two of them!"

He looked over at her with his wide smile that had spread to every corner of his face.

x

The twins had been named Yan and Li. Normally, the bell in Luoyang would have been rung to announce their birth. However, that same bell was also used to announce a death. She wouldn't have her sons' births confused with death. That's what everyone would assume it was during a time such as this. So Cao Pi ordered that the bell not be rung anymore. They could hear it ringing every day in the distance and it only became a constant reminder that they could be next, but no one in their little village had been stricken by it, yet.

Zhen took care of the twins with the help of mostly everyone in the village. They were the one thing that could make people smile these days, a light amongst the darkness of the Black Death.

Zhen was holding a sleeping Yan in the twins' chamber while Jia held Li. They both looked out the window where Cao Pi was chasing Rui and Dong Xiang through the village. Xie ran as fast as his little legs could take him, but he still couldn't keep up. That didn't stop him though. Nu Ming sat silently on a spare chair behind where Zhen and Jia were with her hands on her lap and her eyes on her feet.

Cai Wenji eventually distracted Xie from trying to keep up with his siblings and father. She scooped him up and carried him over to where she had planted a garden and had him help her weed it. Xie tore away at the weeds, much to Wenji's delight.

That's when she noticed that Zhag Liao was watching Wenji from where he was training the small group of soldiers that they had brought with them.

"We should have a feast." Zhen suddenly said.

"What?"

"We should celebrate the twins' birth. It would be something to clear everyone's mind. It doesn't have to be extravagant by any means. Just some nice food and some music."

"I don't think that anyone could celebrate with all this going on."

Jia waved her hand toward the direction of Luoyang.

"That's exactly why we should. So that everyone can realize that it's not the end."

x

Call it the petty feast of a vain empress wanting to celebrate the births of her sons amongst so much death. Call it a woman's tricks. Call it delusional, but what started off as a modest celebration ended up being one of the most greatest nights of all their lives. Although they had no wine, everyone sang and danced as if they had drunk more of it than ever before. It was a release, an escape from all of it. One night of invincibility when the plague could not possibly touch them.

Zhen and Wenji had played most of the music, but some soldiers came out with instruments of their own, freeing her to join Cao Pi. He was standing with Zhang Liao, watching the dancing. She slipped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his shoulder. He put his hand on her hip and pulled her up against him.

She watched Rui and Nu Ming dancing with the servants' children.

She didn't know how much longer this could go on.


	18. Many Meetings

Many Meetings

Three years. That's how much longer it had gone on. Three years of cramming into a small house which a small part of a smaller village. Other generals, overseers and officials occupied those other houses. She knew exactly who was in which… servants talk and there wasn't many others to talk to. They had been insolation for three years.

Cao Pi had come and gone during those three years. Sometimes he was gone for a month at a time. When he was gone, it was almost like they were a common-day household. Everyone cleaned. Everyone worked. It was like this was the only life she had ever had. Silks, headdresses, flutes… who needed them now? Had she ever really been an empress?

But the confusions were all lifted like a thick fog by the rising sun when Cao Pi would come back. She dreaded the news he brought with him. Half of Luoyang was dead. Half of Xuchang was dead. The Liu sisters were only two of the victims there, but there was no word of her father. There never was and she finally understood that there never would be.

Zhen Ji was pulling weeds from the garden with Nu Ming and Dong Xiang when she heard hoof beats coming up the road.

She looked over her shoulder to find Cao Pi coming. He hadn't been back in weeks. He had missed Nu Ming's tenth birthday and Rui's was quickly coming. She could hardly imagine that it had been ten years sense he had been born. She could also hardly imagine that it had been more than three years sense the plague started.

Zhen stood up and brushed her skirts off. Then she brushed the girls off.

Cao Pi stepped off his horse and approached them. The look on his face was one she hadn't seen in a long time. It was one of relief and joy.

"It's over, Zhen. The plague has gone."

x

They had been moved back into the castle that night. Zhen collapsed into bed as soon as the children were settled in and put to bed.

x

When she woke the next morning, Cao Pi wasn't there, but she was feeling better. Her exhaustion had subsided from yesterday. She didn't remember crying in joy before, but she did yesterday. She cried a lot yesterday. So much pain and death and now it was all over.

Zhen took her time in getting ready. First she washed. Then she dressed in her favorite violet dress and put her hair up.

When she went outside, she found the children playing in the courtyard as if nothing had happened.

Just then, Cai Wenji came around the corner.

"Oh good, you're ready. Come, they're almost back."

"What?"

"The emperor and his council took a tour of the city to assess the damages . They'll be back any minute."

"Does this mean that we're all free to roam the city again?"

She hadn't seen her family sense the plague started, more than three years ago.

"Yes, of course we are."

They slowly made their way to the front of the castle, walking at a leisurely pace. She and Wenji were the last to arrive at the front of the castle. Sima Zhao and Wang Yuanji stood a ways off.

"What do you know of Wang Yuanji?"

"That she's a compulsive perfectionist. She never accepts anything but the best from everyone and that she's especially demanding of Sima Zhao, but he'll never live up to her expectations."

"Why?"

"He's lazy and carefree. The exact opposite of all other Simas."

"Are we sure he's Sima Yi's son? It sounds like she should have married Sima Shi."

Cai Wenji laughed.

The council members rounded a corner on their horses and entered the courtyard. Cao Pi was at the front. Sima Yi, Sima Shi, Zhang Liao and the others followed. Cao dismounted his horse and climbed the steps to the palace, he went straight to her. She smiled at him. He smiled back.

It really was over.

Sima Yi came up the steps behind Cao Pi.

It really wasn't over, not yet.

x

Wu had been making attempts to invade Wei while the capital had been dying. Cowards. The generals had defeated Jiang Wei and Liu Shan every time, but it was the time now for the true attack, not just some skirmishes. The plague was gone from the city. Jiang Wei would launch a massive campaign and try to invade the capital. Cao Pi sent Sima Yi to Mount Qi, near Didao to guard their western borders.

A feast was held to celebrate the end of the plague. Zhen Ji wore her rich violet dress with silver trim. She arrived at the feast on Cao Pi's arm with Nu Ming holding her other hand. Cao Rui was on Cao Pi's other side. It was his tenth birthday soon and Nu Ming already turned ten. They were old enough to attend the feasts now.

That's when she realized, all her enemies where going to see her with her previous rival's daughter as if she was her own. Ha! Let them see her with Nu Ming. Let them see that she was Nu Ming's mother now and that they couldn't use the daughter of Empress Guo against her.

And that was when she realized that this exact reason was probably the only reason that Cao let her stay with them at all. It was no secret to her that he felt nothing for Nu Ming. She was the ultimate evidence of Guo's betrayal after all, but no one knew that and once, a long time ago, she had told them that he may know how to win battles, but she knew how to win people's loyalties. That as another reason why he never sent Nu Ming away. Taking in his supposed daughter by his former empress would make him look charitable and loving.

She leaned toward Cao and whispered in Cao's ear.

"I'm going to go and sit down."

He nodded. So Zhen moved over to her seat at the table and slowly eased herself into it. Nu Ming sat next to her. Zhen scanned the people before her, generals, governors, ministers and even the occasional eunuch, but none of them were who she was looking for, her family. They were supposed to be here.

A fat minister moved to speak with Cao Ren. When he moved, she found that her father had been standing behind him. He was talking casually with someone else that she couldn't see sense they were hidden behind a lieutenant.

Zhen sat up in her seat, but then the lieutenant moved and revealed Sima Yi. She froze. Sima Yi meet her gaze. His face was smug. He excused himself from their conversation and left, never taking his eyes off her.

Her father followed Sima Yi's gaze to her, but she didn't meet it right away, she was too busy watching Sima Yi. He moved over to where his sons were standing with Wang Yunji. When Sima Yi turned his back to her to hide whatever was being said between him and his family, she turned to look at her father.

He had approached the table and stood in front of her. They both remained silent for a long moment. Nu Ming looked back and forth between them, but said nothing.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she did first.

"Last time I saw you at a feast, I thought that you had fought to keep me from Yuan Xi until all our lives were in danger. Then the last time I saw you, I realized that you fought until the fight become a hinder your office more than it was benefiting me."

"Is that why you summoned us here, to tell me that?"

"No, I summoned you here because I wanted to see you, but I'm beginning to understand that I really don't want to see you."

"And if I had died, why would Yuan Shao have any reason to make sure you were treated right?"

It wouldn't have been beyond Yuan Shao to whore her off for his own benefit. She knew that and her father wouldn't have been able to stop him. Her father gave up as soon as he heard that Yuan Shao was sending a small force. She had thought that there was nothing to do, but now she knew that she could have gone into hiding or taken a new name, like Cao Pi had her do to save her from Sima Yi.

"Do you really think that a lowly governor would have held any reverence over a warlord like Yuan Shao?" She asked.

"Yes, I could have sided with Cao Cao. The people of Ji Province are very loyal to me and would have leapt at the chance to bear arms for me."

"And now they bear arms for the emperor, whom you serve and they aren't half as enthusiastic as the other men."

Morale in Ji Province was low. They hadn't known famine for decades, nor had they had a battle in their homeland for years. She didn't know if they had grown accustom to their easy lives in the sheltered north or if they thought that they were being shown favor because she was on the throne, but either way, those people had grown lazy, especially sense they hadn't been affected by the plague half as bad as other places hard been. Maybe they took after their governor.

"And who is this?" Her father pointed at Nu Ming. "One of your beloved emperor's bastards? Or is she from one of his other wives?"

Nu Ming turned away from everyone and hid her face in the shadows. Zhen her hand on Nu Ming's and squeezed it. Then she raised her chin.

"Guo Nu Ming is my daughter now."

She felt Nu Ming's eyes on her.

"And these sons I heard about? Are they your sons now as well?"

He didn't realize that she had twins.

"They are my sons." She said simply and a little more weakly than she had intended to. "I gave birth to them in the village that we took refuge in three years ago."

She hadn't had any children sense then. How could she with everything that was happening?

Wang Bo and Zhen Dao stepped forward from.

"Both of them?" Wang Bo asked.

She saw the pain on his face, even if he didn't intend for it to be there. Was he still without a child of his own? Should she care? He had used her to get to Dao and she had been foolish even to believe he had actually loved her instead.

"Yes. The gods have blessed us." Cao Pi cut in as he approached.

He sat on his seat next to hers.

It was the first time anyone of her family had ever met Cao Pi and all of them were silent.

She had told Cao that they were coming and he was clearly able to see the resemblance.

"I am glad that you have come to attend the celebration. I hope that you will come to visit tomorrow and see your grandchildren."

Cao Pi took a drink from his wine goblet, but didn't take his eyes off her father. He was waiting for her father's reaction.

"It seems that the gods deny you nothing that you desire." Her father agreed.

Zhen's grip of the armrests tightened.

"If that were true, the plague would never have come to my country, but the gods help those that help themselves."

"Cao Pi is a man of action. He doesn't sit by and let the order of events unfold for themselves. He commands them." She added.

There was a long moment of silence.

"You must be Wang Bo." Cao Pi said, suddenly changing the topic.

Wang Bo's eyes lowered.

"Finally, a face to put to the stories." She heard Cao whisper to himself before his voice became loud enough for others to hear. "I hope you'll enjoy yourselves while in my city. As you said, the gods deny me nothing. So I can afford to be generous toward my guests."

Her father excused himself and left. Wang Bo and Zhen Dao followed.

She hadn't expected this for when Cao met her family for the first time, but what else was there to expect? Screaming, shouting, cursing? She would have never allowed that to happen in front of everyone. Tears of joy, hugs? Dao would never allow that, not after everything that had happened. What else was there? Cao and her father had played their politics beautifully and Wang Bo had managed to stay as quiet as ever. She said her piece, but Dao hadn't said anything, which was very unlike her.

Would a greater reckoning come?

"I see know why you used to love him. He's a very handsome man." Cao Pi told her quietly, so that no one else could hear.

"I didn't love him. I had been young and foolish."

It was strange how things were so clear when you looked back at them, but were like a fog while they were happening.

"We're you still young and foolish when you agreed to betray Yuan Shao for me?"

"No, but I was foolish when I let you put twins inside me."

"A mistake you'd repeat?"

She put her other hand around Cao Pi's.

"I never said that it was a mistake."

Cao grinned before he leaned in and kissed her, well aware that Zhen's family was still watching them, but another that was watching, was Sima Yi.


	19. The Final Campaign

The Final Campaign

Nu Ming stood stiller than a pole as the seamstress fitted her with a new dress. Jia was right there, pointing out flaws in the fabric and making sure that the seamstress left room for Nu Ming to move inside the dress.

Zhen was sitting on a bench with Dong Xiang in her lap. She combed Dong Xiang's hair and braided it.

"I want a new dress too!"

"Not until you outgrow the ones you have now."

The twins were taking a nap. The boys were off with Cao Pi on the horses. It was Xie's first ride. He had eagerly climbed up into the saddle in front of Cao and held onto the pommel with all the might in his little hands. Rui was riding Storm by himself, completely unaided. For some reason, that stallion did everything and anything that Rui wanted. He would patiently wait for Rui to climb up in his saddle and yet, he'd be less than agreeable with anyone else, except for Cao Pi.

So that left her with the girls, Jia and Wenji.

"What do you think?" She asked Nu Ming when it appeared that the seamstress was finally done.

It was a bright blue dress, far different from the dull and lifeless colors she used to wear.

"It's beautiful, mother." Nu Ming responded.

Zhen's heart stopped when Nu Ming called her that. She was so happy that she wanted to cry, but that would be awkward for Nu Ming. She was an awkward child and Zhen had long known that she needed to display her love much more passively with her than the other children. That way, nothing was awkward.

"Good. I won't have any daughter of mine dressing like she's going to a funeral every day."

There, she responded to it as if Nu Ming had been calling her 'mother' this whole time.

Nu Ming smiled to herself, but didn't do a very good job of hiding it.

"I want a violent dress too, one with flowers and silver." Nu Ming told the seamstress as she stared at her fidgeting fingers.

Like the one Zhen had worn last night.

A messenger came into the room.

"Empress Zhen, the governor of Zhongshan is here."

"Where is he?"

"The throne room."

"Then I shall receive him there."

She lifted Dong Xiang off her lap and stood up.

Zhen made her way to the throne room. She didn't know what this was about, but she wanted to get it over with.

She entered the throne room from one of the side rooms. Her father stood in the center of the room. He had come alone.

"I was informed that you had come to see me."

He nodded.

Her father never had been a man of many words, but ever sense the Yuans came into their lives, making words must have become a painful process for him.

"Yes, I just wanted to bid you farewell, we're returning to Zhongshan. It's been three years sense your brothers saw their wives and children and I don't know if we'll come back."

This time, it was Zhen to find it painful to speak at all. She had built a wall against her family to try and keep them away, but now that they were leaving and she would probably never see them again, that wall had fell down.

She took a moment to steady her voice so that it wouldn't break.

"Farewell then."

She gave her father a hug, something she didn't think she would do.

"I'm so proud of you."

"For becoming empress?"

"For finding your way."

x

She didn't think it possible, but she regretted it when her family left. She may have hated them for the past ten years, but they were still her family. Maybe it was her duty to love them, being that they grew up together? Maybe there's a certain amount of love that's owed to one's family. One may not be able to choose their family, but staying with family was a choice and that's where love was owed.

They would always be her family, but Cao Pi, the boys, the girls and the twins were her family now.

Nu Ming carefully chose when she practiced calling Zhen 'mother' throughout the day. She was especially aware of whom she said it in front of. No child should feel as if they had to be this careful. She wasn't even seven years old yet! She should be too busy playing and daydreaming to be careful.

"I almost burst with happiness when she said it." She confessed to Wenji. "I never thought that Nu Ming would see me as her mother. I mean, she's always been my daughter, but…"

"But now she knows that." Wenji interrupted. "Clearly you've been more of a mother to her than Guo Nuwang ever was."

Wenji had a nasty habit of interrupting, but Zhen had grown used to it. Now that they knew each other well enough, when Wenji interrupted her, it was to complete Zhen thoughts. So she didn't mind it so much anymore.

Zhen looked over at where Nu Ming was picking some flowers. She wore her new bright dress and a newly founded smile. When she smiled was when she looked the least like Guo. Guo had never genuinely smiled. At least, not that Zhen ever remembered seeing.

"Guo Nuwang was far too selfish to be any kind of mother. She jeopardized her daughter's future many times. Siding with Sima Yi's rebellion, trying to kill Rui. If not for me, Nu Ming could have been executed as a traitor for what Guo did."

The children that she and Guo raised couldn't have been more opposite, but Nu Ming was improving. She wouldn't look hardly anyone in the eye yet. Zhen, Wenji, Jia and the other children were the only ones to even know her eye color. That and the fidgeting would have to change. No daughter of hers would fidget, nor would they refuse to look people in the eye. Her daughters would grow into women of class, well dressed, proud, confident and with good reasons to have that confidence. Her sons would grow into strong and loyal men of worth, especially Rui, who was already proving his capabilities every day.

Cao Pi suddenly came into the room. He wasn't supposed to be out of his council meeting until the evening.

"Zhen, I need to speak with you."

She lifted Dong Xiang off her lap and followed Cao through the doorway.

"What's going on?"

"Shu's provisions have run out and they were desperate to retreat back to Baidi, but the Wei generals had managed to keep the passages blocked. So the Shu forces were surrounded on Mount Qi. I'm going to go lead the final attack."

"You mean _we're_ going to lead the final attack."

"Zhen…"

"This time, you're the fool if you think you can stop me from coming with you."

x

Zhen climbed up onto Shadow's back and eased herself into the saddle seat. She and Cao both waved at the children, who were watching them from the nursery window. Rui had tried to talk his way into coming along, but he simply wasn't old enough, not yet. He'd have to be at least thirteen before Cao Pi would allow him to witness his first battle.

Then they both turned and rode out of the city.

x

They didn't stop to make camp, not really. Mount Qi wasn't far from the Wei camp that was only a little ways off. They only stopped to rest before they destroyed Shu's force. Attacking with fatigued soldiers was always a failing notion. So while the soldiers slept, they revised their strategy. It took a few hours, but they were already and they would attack at dawn.

x

Zhen woke in the middle of the night when the moon was full and high in the sky. Cao Pi was sitting on his edge of the bed. His elbows rested on his knees and his chin rested on his fists. His back was to her, so she couldn't see if he was troubled or just lost in thought.

She moved up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. His muscles were tighter than stone was hard.

"Did I wake you?" He asked.

She could also hear the tension in his voice.

"No."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on the back of his shoulder.

"Come back into bed. You'll make yourself sick."

"I can't. This night is too perfect for a raid. What if Jiang Wei uses the higher ground advantage against us?"

"Ma Su tried that too and it failed. He was executed for it. Jiang Wei won't make the same mistake as his fellow student of Zhuge Liang's."

Cao Pi had grown more cautious about warfare sense his capture. That was obvious now.

She moved her hands to his shoulders and turned him slightly to that she could look him square in the eye.

"Cao, we have been swimming upstream our entire lives. Why should this be any different?"

"I just afraid that I'm taking on too strong of a current."

"We have the greatest warriors and the greatest strategies in the land. There is no river, mountain or kingdom you cannot conquer."

"That's what Sun Ce thought before my father's men killed him."

Cao turned away from her, but she kept her hands on his bare shoulders. She had never failed at encouraging him before.

There was a long silence.

Well, if words weren't going to get the job done and make him get some sleep, then she knew something else that would.

Zhen glided her hands down his back and to his waist. It wasn't until had hands glided around his middle that she finally got a reaction, a sharp intake of breath. She pulled herself up against him by putting her legs on either side of his hips and kissed that special spot on Cao Pi's neck. She brushed the inside of her legs against his hips. She could feel his body loosen beneath her touch. His hard muscles melted and the tension faded away.

Then she let her hand glide lower and lower until his muscles were tight again.

She grinned so wide when his hands found her legs that the edge of her teeth grazed across his skin. That had been too much for him. He spun around and flung her onto her back. He moved over top of her and buried his face in her neck. His calloused hand massaged her flat belly, clearly intent on not letting it stay flat for long.

She made more noise for him than she normally would have

x

The next morning, or rather, before the morning, Zhen strapped her silver armor on, slowly. She could feel Cao Pi's eyes on her as he put his own armor on. So she combed her fingers through her hair and played with it a little longer than she normally would and pretended to not notice him watching her, but that became impossible when he put his hands on her hips and turned her around to face him.

She put her hands on his chest. Then she lowered her hands down his front until her fingers reached his belt. She undid the buckle and tightened it. Cao let a small grunt out. So she smiled at him, teasingly.

Then she turned around and pulled out of his grasp. She left the tent and stepped outside. The sun had not yet rising over the flat plains to the east, but the dark was broken by the full moon and with its light reflecting off the snow of the mountain, it wasn't hard to see.

"You look tired."

Her back stiffened at the sound of Sima Yi's voice. When she didn't respond right away, he continued.

"You have quite an interesting family. It was a pleasure to get to know them at the birthing feast."

"I had sent for them before the feast, before I even knew that Cao Pi had given me _two_ boys. They are the very image of him."

Sima Yi smirked and let a laugh roll out of his mouth. She wanted to cut the lips off his face so that he could never smirk at her again.

The horse master brought Shadow over to her. He handed her the reins. In his other hand, were the reins for Ginger, Cao Pi's warhorse. Cao Pi came up behind her and took his mare's reins. Then he swiftly swung up into Ginger's saddle.

"I hope you have readied you men Sima Yi, if you have had time to talk with my wife."

Cao Pi's gaze could have killed.

This time, she smirked before she swung up into Shadow's saddle.

She reined Shadow to follow behind Cao Pi and Ginger. They loped through the tents and around the assembling men. They eventually reached the frontline were Zhang Liao and Cao Ren were waiting.

The sun peaked over the mountains and cast a brilliant golden light over the land.

Dawn.

"Let us end this."

Zhen, Zhang Liao and Cao Ren all nodded in agreement. Cao Pi turned Ginger toward Mount Qi and kicked her ribs. He always led the charge. Shadow leapt into a gallop to catch up.

Cao Pi and Cao Ren charged straight up the mountain. Whereas Zhen and Zhang Liao were to go to the southern passage and Sima Yi the northern. Cao Pi and Cao Ren would meet Jiang Wei head on. Zhen and Zhang Liao would take the southern base. Then Zhang Liao would proceed north to flank the fleeing army. Sima Yi and his sons would do the same in the south. The only way for the Shu Han army to retreat would be to the east, straight towards the Shu capital, Baidi. They would lead Wei straight to it. Sure there would be a few skirmishes, maybe even an ambush or two, but without any supply of food or water, the men would be too busy fleeing or deserting to fight.

She and Zhang Liao, riding side by side, turned the final corner before reaching the base. They reined their horses to a halt.

"Bring the ladders!" She shouted.

"Archers!" She heard the captain of the base shout.

"Shields at the ready!"

"My lady, I must insist that you retreat to the back." Zhang Liao told her.

"I don't retreat, Zhang Liao."

She pulled her bow out and tied the string into place. Then she drew an arrow and shot the base captain. He screamed and fell over the base's wall, landing right in front of her, leaving the archers with no one to tell them when they were to fire. So their arrows were released in scattered attempts at lethality.

The ladders were brought out and put up against the base's wall.

"Archers!" She called.

Her archers all come running, bows ready.

She drew another arrow and released it, killing an enemy archer that was about to shot one of the Wei soldiers. Her archers did the same, effectively keeping the soldiers safe until they were able to climb to the wall and attack.

When enough men were able to get in, they opened the gates from the inside. Zhen and Zhang Liao led the charge into the base. Zhen shot the enemies ahead while Zhang Liao cleared the enemies beside them. Some of the Shu soldiers had already begun retreating out the other gate.

"Ugh, we must hold the lines!"

That voice!

Zhen spun her horse around. It was Yueying, the woman who owed Zhen her life and repaid her by taking Cao Pi and holding him prisoner for months.

Zhen kicked Shadow's sides. She reached in her quiver and pulled another arrow out and knocked it. Yueying spun around and saw her coming. She raised her new weapon, a spiked staff. Yueying wound her weapon and swung for Shadow's legs. Zhen raised her bow, but it was too late. Yueying would take Shadow's off before she could even draw the arrow all the way back.

Suddenly, Shadow leaped into the air, right over top of Yueying's staff before it could take her legs off. Zhen turned around in the saddle and released the arrow. Yueying screamed when the arrow pierced her shoulder. Yueying's staff dropped to the ground and landed with a thud.

Zhen pulled up on Shadow's reins and steered the mare around. Then she quickly drew another arrow, knocked it and drew it as far back as she could, resting her palm on her cheek.

Yueying grabbed her staff and charged at her. So Zhen released her arrow into Yueying's other shoulder. Yueying was stopped in her tracks, but she managed to stay on her feet. Her staff had fallen far beyond her reach.

Zhen drew another arrow and prepared for one more shot.

"Is this how you repay me? You owe me everything!"

"What is it you think I owe you?"

"Your life."

"What is life when everyone you ever cared about is dead?"

"Thanks to you, I am familiar with that pain. You husband died. So I let you go to raise your son. Then you took my husband from me."

Yueying grinned, half-mad.

"Well, you have yours back now."

"Yes and I will never let anyone take him from me again."

"What happened to the woman that forgave even her husband's other wife."

"She was nearly killed by her."

She released the arrow, but she didn't watch it fly. She looked down at her armor and traced her fingers over the Wei character engraved into her shoulder pad.

When she heard Yueying finally collapse, that's when Zhen looked up. Zhen stepped off her horse and approached Yueying, who lay dead on the ground with a third arrow stabbed into her chest.

"No mercy. People don't change. You and Guo taught me that." She told Yueying, as if she could hear her from the heavens before turning to the men. "Let's go! I want the enemy begging for our mercy!"

x

Unfortunately, it was Zhang Liao to ride out and not her. She was to stay at the base and wait. A boring job really, but she'd rather have that then have Cao Pi needing her reinforcements. All there was to do at the base was tidy things up.

"Have all the bodies buried and marked with the symbol of their kingdom, we can't risk the chance of another disease."

"What of the lady general?"

Yueying.

"Have her buried with her men, like any other general. Just the symbol of Shu Han, no name."

Why should she get special treatment?

"Strip the bodies or their armor, boots and weapons before you burry them. We may need those later."

Boots took a long time to make and armor was easily redone to resemble that of Wei's. As for the weapons, bows and arrows were expensive.

The surviving Shu soldiers that had surrendered dug the pits that the bodies were put in. The Wei soldiers made the headstones by breaking some rocks and carving either symbol on it.


	20. Arriving at Baidi Castle

Only three more chapters to go after this :( Enjoy!

* * *

Arriving at Baidi Castle

Cao Pi led the Cao Wei army straight to Baidi. Jiang Wei had managed to organize a few ambushes, but his men were so tired of fighting and the end to the war seemed so close. They didn't want to die now. They wanted to go home. The soldiers of Wei felt similarly. However, there were ways to kept morale up. The soldiers' pay was to be doubled if they took Shu successfully. The kept old soldiers around, that could tell stories of older battles, which made the younger soldiers want to finish this. They also had young soldiers, which the old soldiers wanted to show up.

"There it is." Cao Pi's voice cut through the silence.

Zhen Ji craned her neck to see better. Baidi wasn't as grand of a castle as she would have thought, but Shu Han didn't put up as grand of a fight as she expected either.

Just then, a white flag was hoisted from Baidi's most inner courtyard. Then the front gates were open.

"Liu Shan surrenders?" Zhang Liao asked.

"He would be a fool to do so otherwise."

Sima Yi had looked at Cao Pi as he said it. Zhen understood his meaning. He wasn't talking about Liu Shan, he was talking about Cao Pi, how he should surrender to Sima Yi.

"All enemies of my lord should surrender." She added.

X

When they reached the city, they were greeted with well-practiced happiness. Flower pedals were thrown from roofs and windows. Crowds of people flooded the sides of the streets to catch a glimpse of their new rulers. Cao Ren and his heavy infantry led the procession on foot. Then she and Cao Pi led the cavalry. Behind them was Zhang Liao and the Simas. Behind the cavalry was the archers and the light infantry. It was quite a grand procession, not polished, stiff and practiced, but rugged, fresh from battle and disciplined. Much more impressive than soldiers dressed in useless ceremonial armor meant to shine pretty more than deflect arrows.

However, the people of Baidi weren't happy. They wore stiff smiles. Some were bold enough to frown, but at least none of them were shouting out against them.

Zhen Ji's back was stiff. She didn't like Sima Yi riding behind her, right where she could see his every move. She knew that even he wasn't bold enough to try anything now, with all of Cao Pi's supporters around them, but still.

She looked over at Cao Pi. Any other leader would have been smiling from ear to ear and waving to everyone they saw, but not Cao Pi. He only wore a small grin. She imagined that his father had been the same way. She missed Cao Cao. Sure she hadn't really known him, but she missed that smile he would always give her when he saw her. The very sight of her reminded him of his victory over Yuan Shao and the bright future waiting for Cao Pi and his rule. Now it was finally here.

She looked over her shoulder at Sima Yi.

Well, it was almost here.

She urged Shadow forward so that she could ride beside Cao Pi.

They rode through the castle gates and into the courtyard. Cao Ren and the heavy infantry split to both sides and made a long aisle for she and Cao Pi to ride down. The aisle kept anyone unwanted from getting too close. It also made for quite the grand entrance.

Liu Shan, Jiang Wei and whom she assumed was empress Zhang stood at the forefront of the Shu Han greeting party. Behind them was a group of generals and strategists that she didn't know.

"Emperor Cao Pi, welcome to Baidi." Previous emperor Liu Shan greeted.

Empress Zhang scowled. She wore a brilliantly unreadable face, but because Zhen also wore the same one every day, she could read it.

Cao Pi stepped down off his horse. Zhen did the same. She slipped her hand through Cao's elbow before they ascended the steps. Zhang Liao and Sima Yi followed beside them. She could see Zhang Liao keeping his hand close to a hidden dagger under his bracer beside her.

She had a dagger hidden under her bracer too.

When they reached Liu Shan and the others, it was like a mountain beside a valley. Cao Pi towered over Liu Shan in height and power. Sima Yi's experience was far vaster than Jiang Wei's. Zhang Liao's armor was like a solid wall of steel compared to that of the Shu general standing before him. As for her and Empress Zhang, Zhen was a leader, a supporter, a warrior and a mother. Empress Zhang was the daughter of the mighty Zhang Fei, just a pretty face.

"Much different than last time I was here." Cao Pi answered.

When he had been captured, but that would never happen again. The mastermind of the plot was dead and the muscles to carry it out were conquered.

"Let us not linger on the past." Liu Shan quickly began. "Instead, let us look to our bright future."

Zhen didn't react, but she had to fight the urge to laugh. She never imagined that Liu Shan was such a smooth talking politician.

Cao Pi did react. He smirked and lost a little tension in his body when he realized that Liu Shan was nothing more than a boy without Zhuge Liang and his wife to help him.

"The future will have to wait till tomorrow. My men are tired and need rest. We shall start rested tomorrow."

"O… of course. Anything you require."

"Chambers and a good meal for me and the generals. I would hope that it would be better than the soiled bread and dirty water I received last time Shu showed me their hospitality."

x

"You shouldn't have done that." She told him.

She never argued or countered him in front of anyone, but when they were alone, that's when she was able to speak whatever she wanted to and that was exactly what she was doing now.

"Referring to my capture?"

"Yes. It makes you look weak."

"It makes me look unforgiving. If I let them know that I still remember my capture, they'll be pressured into making up for it or try and make me forget. If I tried to act like it didn't happen, they'd assume that I was embarrassed about it and then they'd use it against me to humiliate me."

He was humiliated by it. He would never admit to it, but she knew him well enough that he didn't need to use words most times.

Maybe he was right though. Maybe his capture was a double sided spear. It could either serve them, or attack them and Cao Pi had already used it to his advantage.

"Alright." She agreed.

Zhen was combing her hair in front of a modest sized mirror. She had bathed and changed into a fresh gown. There was to be a feast tonight. Liu Shan was holding a feast in honor of their new alliance, which still had to be written.

"At least we know Liu Shan's tactic. Grovel and hopefully not lose everything."

Cao Pi laughed.

"I don't intend on making him loose everything."

"Why not?"

"Because these people still need him. You saw what they were like today."

"The people here have grown lazy off of Liu Shan's gentle heart. His so called 'benevolence' was no more than free handouts, food, money. Anything the people needed, he gave them. Is it any wonder that the lazy love him? He almost lost his entire treasury to his own generosity."

They had seen the reports of the treasury before they went to their chambers. Cao Pi had hoped that there would be enough there to pay the men what he promised them. There wasn't half that amount left.

Yet, Cao Pi didn't look convinced.

"These people will be angry when you make them stand on their own feet, but that is how they will succeed for themselves and not drain our treasury of the coins that buy the swords and arrows that keep them safe."

Zhen placed a jeweled ornament in her hair and earrings in her ears.

When Cao Pi still didn't respond, she reached over and squeezed his shoulder. He was looking over supply lists at the humble desk. He didn't want to go to the feast uniformed on the matters of the Shu state.

Cao Pi put his hand on top of hers. She slowly and yet, forcefully took a strong hold on his tunic and pulled. Cao turned, melting to her touch.

"Come, we should go. You'll read lists all though out the night and offend our hosts."

"We both know that you wouldn't let that happen."

She grinned. It was true.

x

They came into the hall and took their seats. There were three tables set along the wall. The shortest table had four seats, for the two ruling couples. The two other tables along the long walls were for their generals and strategists. Cao Pi and Liu Shan were sitting side by side. She sat at Cao Pi's other side. Beside Liu Shan was Empress Zhang.

The first person seated on the Wei side of the room was Cao Ren, then it was Zhang Liao, Sima Yi, Sima Shi, Sima Zhao and Wang Yuan Ji. On the Shu side, it went Jiang Wei, Ma Dai, Guan Suo and some other generals that she hadn't learned of yet.

She hated when feasts were arranged this way. It was horribly boring and quiet. Quiet wasn't a good way to get to know everyone or get a feel for who wasn't happy with the new 'alliance'.

The food was brought out, generous servings of foods considered extravagant if Luoyang. That was the advantage of being of the western side of the mountains. It was like a paradise here, mild weather and good crops, but how could Liu Shan afford this? Did he raise his almost nonexistent taxes just before their arrival to turn the people against them? Is that why the people didn't like them, because they blamed Cao Pi for the taxes that were used to pay for this feast?

She ate conservatively. She didn't drink any wine either. She needed to be aware of everything and couldn't afford the mistakes that wine induced. However, there was nothing but silence at their table. Cao Pi was waiting for Liu Shan to say something, but the boy didn't know what to say. What could he say that was safe? He couldn't ask about the capital, that would bring up the battle for it, the cleanup and the plague that had infected it. No, there certainty wasn't going to be any pleasant talk tonight, not that she had expected it, but she did expect more than silence.

Sima Yi stood up and took his leave. His face was pale and his eyes dull where they normally had a spark of intelligence and ambition. His gait was slow and careful instead of graceful. Was he drunk? Or could it be that all those years of scheming has finally caught up with him. It was almost seven years sense he had first come to serve Cao Cao.

This was pointless. The while point of her going was to be able to size up Liu Shan and Zhang and she was spending more time thinking about the past more than anything else. She had a feeling that Zhang wasn't going to say anything unless forced. So, Zhen would force her.

"Lady Zhang," She started sense Zhang was no empress anymore. "I heard that Zhuge Liang made your match with Liu Shan."

Zhang nodded.

"Yes."

"Wise of Zhuge Liang to marry Liu Shan to a member of the Xiahou family."

Zhang shrugged.

"You know that they say about choosing your family, you can't."

"Your mother was the niece of Xiahou Ba, Cao Pi's second cousin. You couldn't have chosen better family indeed."

Zhang didn't react.

"What does that make us?" She thought aloud as she tapped her finger to her bottom lip. "It would make our grandchildren your fourth cousins."

Zhang remained a stature, a seemingly deaf one.

"Yes. It seems that destiny has brought us tighter." Liu Shan agreed.

She and Cao Pi shared a private grin at the fact that Liu Shan was still sticking to his tactic. It was rather amusing. It was also very rewarding to have Cao Pi's captor sucking up to them.

Jiang Wei was scowling behind his wine goblet. He might still be a problem.

Some dancers came out and began twirling around.

"So tell me, how is it that you can afford all this, on top of all your handouts?"

Cao Pi clearly wasn't able to wait any longer.

"We have many resources between Chengdu and the Nanman territories."

"You mean high taxes?"

"Only on those who can afford it."

"And free things for all who can't." She finished. "Well that explains why your court is the only major provider for anything. As soon as a merchant builds a small fortune, you tax it away until they're as poor as their customers, effectively shutting down their business and taking it for yourself."

"We make sure that everyone has their fair share." Liu Shan countered.

"If everyone has the same amount of coin, no one can afford any large trade."

"It's the large trades that prevent the small trades from succeeding."

"And your court is the largest trade of them all."

Liu Shan shifted in his seat.

"Did your family not give out bread in you homeland?"

"In a time of drought, yes. The likes of which no one here has ever seen."

If Shu ever faced such a drought, their people would flood the city for handouts and eventually riot when supplies ran out. Her family had only given enough bread out to supplement every family's own supplies.

Liu Shan seat down, trying to get comfortable again.

"Your empress is very sure of her politics." He told Cao Pi.

"She was aiding her father's rule of Zongshan sense before you were born. I have depended on her knowledge of economics sense before my rule and my kingdom has thrived. I depend on all those of ability to air my rule."

Sima Yi.

"Regardless of your politics, I do see that you have some useful abilities." Cao Pi continued.

Liu Shan's politics depended on his state remaining rich, but he was draining it. It wasn't going to stay rich for long.

"I would like for you to serve as one of my dukes. Your post would be near Luoyang."

This time, Zhen had to restrain herself from reacting. Whereas Zhang had perked up. Of course she would be excited. With Liu Shan having a station under Cao Pi, it gave them wealth and resources. For rebellion perhaps?

"Oh… ah… of course."

x

"What post?" She asked simply when they reached their chambers.

"Sima Yi's. His uses are all used up. Wu is all that left and we can count on them using a fire attack. They always have."

"When will you kill him?"

"Before we return to Luoyang. Before he has a chance to reunite with his followers."

"What of Sima Shi and Zhao?"

"Shi will be disposed of and Zhao only concerns himself with women and wine."

"The last man like that almost took you kingdom." She told him, reminding him of his brother, Cao Zhi.

"Then we will kill him too."

"No loose ends?"

"None."

She grinned.


	21. A Greater Reckoning- Part 1

A Greater Reckoning- Part 1

"Why a duke?"

"Because he'll be close to Luoyang, easy to keep an eye on and he won't be able to give away any of my treasury without me knowing about it."

"So you'll appoint a treasurer?"

"Yes. They'll maintain the budget. Liu Shan will be a way to keep these people from rebelling more than anything else."

Cao Pi was starting quite a collection of trophies, her, Zhang He, the Liu sisters and now Liu Shan.

Zhen knocked another arrow.

"It's all almost over." She whispered as she released the arrow, hitting a perfect bulls-eye.

"Not until he's dead," Cao Pi corrected from where he sat on the nearby bench with his treasurer's report. "but it shouldn't be long now."

For being such a modest castle, it had quite the magnificent gardens, but nothing near the size as theirs in Luoyang. There was enough room for her to set up a target and get in a few last shots. She wouldn't need her bow anymore after today.

Sima Yi had taken ill last night at the feast. So they took the opportunity to poison him. Cao Pi had one of his servants poison his food with a type of foreign poison that she had never heard of before. All she knew about it was that Cao Pi had gotten it after they retook Luoyang and had waited for the perfect time to use it sense then. Well… the time was now. They could blame Sima Yi's death on his illness from last night.

Just then, a wave of Shu soldiers came flooding into the courtyard, fully armed. Zhen quickly drew another arrow as they were surrounded, but she didn't know which soldier to hit. Cao Pi leapt to his feet and held his sword at the ready.

"Liu Shan." Cao Pi spat.

"You can't think that that fool would dare try his hand at assassination?"

They both turned. She had expected to see Jiang Wei, but it was Sima Shi.

Sima Shi laughed, it sounded similar to his father's.

"You see what happened is that Liu Shan's generals couldn't tolerate being subjugated. So they rebelled and in the confusion of the attack, the Emperor and Empress were killed."

"As conniving as your father, but his plans didn't work and neither will yours. You can't possibly think that my men will believe this."

"And you can't believe that my allies will believe that my father's death was natural."

Something caught her eye, an oil drum set on top of the railing on the top level, right above a torch. It was probably left there by some lazy servant who had been told to bring it to refill everyone's oil lamps.

"So your father has finally passed." She assumed.

"No, he's still alive, but you won't be, not for long."

She pointed her arrow up at the oil drum and released it. The oil pot toppled over. It crashed on the rail of the level above the torch. So the oil cascaded over the torch and erupted into fame. When the oil landed on the ground, it splashed everywhere, landing on the dry grass like kindling and even on the faces of some of the Shu soldiers. The effect was blinding and stench was nauseating.

She felt Cao Pi grab her arm. He pulled her out of the courtyard, hacking their way through the 'Shu' soldiers. They took off down the hallway and ran towards the general's wing, but Wang Yuanji came running around the corner. She knew a knife. Cao Pi pushed Zhen to the side as hard as he could, sending them both falling out of the pathway of the knife. She landed on her shoulder and her bow fell out of reach, but neither of them had been hit. Yuanji threw another knife. Cao Pi was able roll to the side to dodge it before leaping to his feet. Wang Yuanji threw a third knife. This time, Cao Pi was able to hit it to the side with his sword. It stabbed into the wall next to him.

Zhen grabbed her bow and pulled out another arrow. Yuanji saw her and pulled out another knife. She was able to throw it quicker than Zhen was able to release her arrow, but she didn't care. She released the arrow as the knife came hurling at her.

"NO!"

She screamed as the knife hit her just below the base of her right rib and lit her entire middle on fire.

"NO!"

Cao Pi dropped to his knees beside her. She looked past him at Yuanji. She had been hit through the middle of the chest. Blood dripped out of the side of her mouth. She scowled at Zhen before falling backwards and hitting the ground with a thud.

Zhen sighed in relief and clung to the fold of Cao Pi's tunic. Her other hand still clung to her bow. She leaned her forehead on Cao Pi's chest and let go of his tunic.

"It's nothing." She told Cao Pi as she pulled the little knife out.

She had bit down on her lips to keep from making any sounds of pain. She tucked the knife into her belt.

Then there was a roar behind them. They both turned to see the 'Shu' soldiers. Cao Pi pulled her to her feet. They ran as fast as they could. The 'Shu' soldiers followed closely in their wake. Arrows shot past their heads, but they were poorly aimed. Zhen would have turned to shot while she ran, but that would have slowed her down too much. So they just continued to run and hope that the soldiers would continue to miss.

Suddenly, a group of Wei soldiers turned a corner, led by Zhang Liao.

"Get out of here!" Was all he said to them.

Cao Pi led her through the Wei soldiers. When they were safely behind friendly ranks, they stopped.

"Keep going. Barricade yourself in our chambers! I have to finish this!"

"I won't leave you!"

"Zhen, you're injured, go!"

He turned back toward the enemy and ran, sword first.

He was right, she was injured, she would just get in the way, but she wasn't useless. There was still something she could do. Sima Yi was still alive.

Zhen slipped through one of the side halls and silently made her way toward Sima Yi's chambers, holding her side with her hand that wasn't holding her bow. It wasn't bleeding too bad. It burned more than anything else, like having an amber thrown at her, but she was able to ignore it enough to make her way to Sima Yi's chambers. She didn't go inside, not right away. She knocked another arrow with her had that was slippery with blood. Then she turned and kicked the door open.

No one was inside.

She lowered her bow and held her side again.

Where could that snake of a man be?

She leaned against the wall behind her and leaned the back of her head against it. She closed her eyes to think, but she heard voices. She immediately recognized one of them as Sima Yi's. She slowly leaned over and peeked out the doorway. She saw Sima Yi, Sima Zhao and Jiang Wei walking down the hall, towards the throne room.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jiang Wei asked.

"I never devise plans that fail."

"Yet you failed in taking Xuchang all those years ago."

"There were variables I hadn't taken into account back then."

Zhen couldn't hear them anymore. So she slowly moved back into the hall and followed after them, making sure to keep her distance so that she wouldn't be heard.

She caught up with them at the throne room. All three of them were inside. Zhen moved next to the archway and listened, silently.

"I have no intention of letting Liu Shan resume his role of Emperor of Shu Han." Sima Yi told Jiang Wei.

"What? But we agreed that Liu Shan…"

"I lied." Sima Yi replied simply. "I can't stand watching the incompetent rule. Cao Cao lost at Chibi, had he won he would have won the war. Cao Pi was taken hostage by you. Sun Quan hasn't accomplished anything sense he stopped your father's vengeance campaign. Liu Shan hasn't accomplished anything at all. This land deserves better. Cao Cao may have been a fool, but he was right about one thing, only the talented should rule. The three kingdoms will fall and they will be replaced with my empire, Jin."

"Maybe, but you will never live see that day!" Zhen shouted as she moved in front of the doorway and released another arrow.

But her fingers slipped because of the blood on her hands. Instead of hitting Sima Yi in the chest, she hit Sima Zhao in the shoulder. Zhao let out a painful cry.

"Zhao!"

How could she miss!?

Sima Zhao charged at her. She drew another arrow and tried to knock it, but she didn't have time. Sima Zhao swung his sword at her. She raised her bow as if to block Zhao's sword, but he shattered it into a thousand pieces. He swung his sword at her again. She leaped backward and out of his reach, but he was able to close the distance between them with one step and a lunge of his sword. Zhen jumped to the side and slammed into the wall. She braced against the pain of her side hitting the wall. When she opened her eyes again, it was to the sight of Sima Zhao's sword point right in front of her face.

"It's going to take more than you to stop me this time." Sima Yi told her as he approached.

Sima Yi put his finger to her cheek. She turned her head away and closed her eyes at his touch. It had been nearly four years sense he had touched her last and his touch was just as bad as she remembered it, if not worse.

His hand moved down her neck, the side of her breast and down her side. His hand finally came to rest at her hip, where he pulled the knife from her belt.

She opened her eyes to look at him again.

"You see, Zhen, after you murdered Jiang Wei," Sima Yi thrust the knife into the base of Jiang Wei's neck. "the Shu army rebelled and both you, Cao Pi and all your followers were killed."

Jiang Wei collapsed.

She stared at Sima Yi. There was no sign of illness in him at all. Had the poison failed?

Sima Zhao pulled the arrow out of his arm.

"Now, to rid myself of one pesky variable…"

"Jiang Wei!"

They all turned. It was Liu Shan with Lady Zhang and two dozen of his soldiers behind them. All stood in the middle of the hall. Liu Shan ran over to Jiang Wei's side and dropped to his knees.

"What happened?" He demanded.

Zhen Ji looked up at Sima Yi and grinned. Sima Yi was trapped. His men were too far away to help him now.

"I found him dead and the empress here, still bloody from the struggle." Sima Yi replied.

Liu Shan looked over at her. She met his gaze for a short second before he looked back down at Jiang Wei.

Sima Yi smirked at her. If she could murder him with a glare, then he would be dead right now.

"But, if that's true, then why does this knife have your seal on it."

She and Sima Yi both snapped their gaze back to Liu Shan. He was holding the knife that Sima Yi used to kill Jiang Wei, the same knife that Wang Yuanji had thrown at her.

Liu Shan's men moved closer to them, led by Lady Zhang.

She smiled at Sima Yi.

"Lies unfolded."

There was a moment were no one moved. No one breathed. Time itself stood still for them to figure out what to do.

Zhen looked over at Lady Zhang. She was watching Sima Yi and Sima Zhao, waiting for a sign that they would move on Liu Shan. Then Zhen looked over that Sima Yi, who's eyes were darting between the faces of the soldiers and their weapons. Next, she looked over at Liu Shan, who looked from Zhang to Sima Yi. Lastly, she looked at Sima Zhao, who had also seen Liu Shan's silent que to Zhang to attack. He met her gaze for only a short moment. Just long enough for him to realize that she knew too.

Then, time continued and everyone sprang into action at once.

Liu Shan shouted for his men to seize Sima Yi. Sima Zhao lunged at Liu Shan. Zhen lunged for Sima Zhao. Lady Zhang and the soldiers charged. Sima Yi turned and ran.

Zhen slammed up against Zhao's back and hooked her arm around his elbow to stop his sword hand right before he could lunge his sword through Liu Shan's head. Liu Shan fell sideways and out of the way. Zhao landed on his chest on the ground. Zhen locked her arm into place to keep his sword hand from moving, but he was able to flip them around so that Zhen was on her back and he was on top.

Liu Shan sprang up and grabbed Zhao's sword hand. He slammed it into the ground until Zhao dropped the sword.

Zhen took the opportunity. With her spare hand, she drew an arrow from her quiver and thrust it into the base of his neck, but Zhao's spare hand caught hers in midair. She wasn't strong enough. Zhao turned her hand to that the arrow was now pointing at her neck and began pushing down on it. Zhen pushed against his hand holding hers with as much strength as she had, but it wasn't near enough. Zhao was quickly closing the distance between the arrow head and her neck.

Suddenly, Liu Shan plunged a dagger into Zhao's chest. Zhao screamed.

While he was still distracted, she redirect the arrow at his neck and let his strength plunge it into his own flesh. His blood poured everywhere. She could feel it spreading over her front. It didn't take but a moment for Sima Zhao to grow limp.

Zhen pushed him off and rose to the sitting position. A burning pain came from her side as her blood high wore off. She fell forward a little, but she caught herself. She held her side with her other hand.

When the pain became duller, she looked up at Sima Zhao. It was Wang Yuanji's dagger in his chest.

Liu Shan was sitting on the other side of Sima Zhao, just staring at her.

Lady Zhang and her men approached Zhen from behind, but stopped a few paces short.

"Why would you help me?" Liu Shan asked.

"The emperor and I have no ill intentions for you."

"Then why did Sima Yi kill Jiang Wei?"

"He was going to frame me for it to turn you against us."

"But who are those men Cao Pi is fighting? They're in my uniforms."

"Sima Yi's men. He was going to frame you for killing Cao Pi after I had killed Jiang Wei. Then I assume that he would attack with his men and conquer the whole of the empire, not just Wei."

"He still might," Lady Zhang cut in. "unless we kill him now."

Lady Zhang helped her up.

"How good are you with that sword?"

"I took lessons from all five tiger generals of Shu. I'm quite good."

"Good, because I need for someone to cut our way to Sima Yi."

Zhang grinned.

"With pleasure."

Zhang gestured for men to follow. Half of them ran after her.

"Liu Shan, get to safety."

"I can help."

"Yeah, that's what I said…"

Zhen still held her side.

"but if you die now," She continued. "then your people and your generals will turn against us and Sima Yi's plan will still succeed, to an extent."

Liu Shan nodded and left, his men followed on his heels.

"Kill the traitors!"

Zhen looked out the window. The flames still burning from the oil drum blocked most of her view of the courtyard, but she was able to see Lady Zhang charging into the fray between Cao Pi and the Shu impersonators. Seeing her fight, Zhen was glad that she never had to face Zhang on the battlefield. Zhang may not be strong, but she was fast. She just went from one victim to the next, using speed and agility to make up for her lack of strength.

Zhang cut down a soldier that Cao Pi was fighting with. After he nodded at Zhang in gratitude, something caught his gaze. Zhen followed in the direction he was looking and saw Sima Yi running with a handful of men following him.

"SIMA YI!" Cao Pi's voice roared.

Sima Yi stopped and turned, when he saw Cao Pi, Zhen could swear that there was fear on Sima Yi's face. For the second time, Sima Yi turned and ran. Cao Pi starting running after him.

"Cao, don't!"

Sima Yi's men had stayed and started charging at Cao Pi, but the flames from the oil drum still burned, so she couldn't see him, or the fight, anymore. Then she spotted Sima Shi running toward the fray.

Cao Pi couldn't take them all, not by himself.

Zhen climbed through the window and ran around the flames.

Cao Pi was fighting Sima Shi. Sima Shi was stronger in his youth and had more time to train than Cao Pi did, but Cao Pi had more experience. He stayed on the defensive, letting Sima Shi exhaust himself and it worked! Sima Shi swung and lunged himself into exhaustion, but he didn't give up. Sima Shi lunged his sword at Cao Pi's middle again. So Cao Pi swiftly moved just to the side of the blade. Then he grabbed the back of the sword's handle to keep it still just long enough for him to send his own sword through Sima Shi's gut.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sima Yi was running for the door that lead to the stables. If he got a horse, he would flee and disappear forever, but Zhen was closer to the stable than he. She could cut him off and if she could just stall him for a few moments…

She looked back over at Cao Pi who was now fighting of Sima Shi's men. He seemed to be doing fine on his own.

So she ran toward the stables, straight through the courtyard and the battle. No one seemed to notice her. Sima Yi reached the stable doors just before she did. He began pulling the doors open, but Zhen came up behind him. She grabbed the collar of his robes and flung him back towards the courtyard. She hadn't been strong enough to even get him off his feet, but she did get herself between him and the stable doors, not a very smart move, but it was all she had left.

"Don't you ever quit?"

All she had to do was buy time, enough time for Cao Pi to finish Sima Yi's men and come to help her. So if talking the time away would work, then fine.

"Never. I never quit. I never run away."

She had been hoping to bait Sima Yi into a battle of words, but it hadn't worked, Sima Yi lunged at her. She couldn't jump to the side this time there was no room in the stable doorway.

Sima Yi slammed her up against the stable doors, which gave way under their weight. Zhen landed on her back. Sima Yi landed beside her. He scrambled to his feet, but Zhen rolled over on her stomach and grabbed his ankle, tripping him. He landed on his chest.

Sima Yi used his other foot to kick her in the face. Her grip on his ankle loosened. So he shot up to his feet. She clung to her face as if it could stop the pain.

Sima Yi grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her up to her feet. Then he grabbed her quiver strap, wrapped it around her neck and pulled.

"Sorry, Zhen Ji, I have no time for love." He whispered into her ear.

Zhen's hand was pinned between her neck and the quiver strap. So she used the other to draw her last arrow. She used it to cut the strap. She fell forward onto her knees as the blood rushed to her head, but she was able to spin around and plunge the arrowhead into Sima Yi's foot.

Sima Yi's scream sounded throughout the castle. Had it been anyone else's, she wouldn't have smiled.

Sima Yi wound his shoulder and backhanded her. She was flung backwards and after twisting in midair, landed on her stomach. Sima Yi stumbled back a few steps. Then he leaned over and ripped the arrow out of his foot. He was able to muffle his scream this time.

She looked up at Sima Yi with pure, unrestrained hated.

Sima Yi limped over to one of the stalls and let himself in. Zhen lifted herself up onto her hands and knees just as Sima Yi climbed up into the saddle. Sima Yi kicked the horse's side with his good heel. The horse surged forward. Zhen rolled to the side, out of the horse's path, remembering what happened to Guo, but the horse also jumped so that it wouldn't step on her. This horse was clearly no warhorse. War horses, like Storm, were trained to put their heads up and just charge, no matter who was in the way. So this must be one of the messenger horses.

When the horse landed, Sima Yi nearly fell off, but he was able to pull himself back into the center of the saddle before the horse even made it through the doorway. He was as good as gone.


	22. A Greater Reckoning- Part 2

A Greater Reckoning- Part 2

She looked up at Sima Yi with pure, unrestrained hated.

Sima Yi limped over to one of the stalls and let himself in. Zhen lifted herself up just as Sima Yi climbed up into the saddle. Sima Yi kicked the horse's side with his good heel. The horse surged forward. Zhen rolled to the side, out of the horse's path, remembering what happened to Guo, but the horse also jumped so that it wouldn't step on her. This horse was clearly no warhorse. War horses, like Storm, were trained to put their heads up and just charge, no matter who was in the way. So this must be one of the messenger horses.

When the horse landed, Sima Yi nearly fell off, but he was able to pull himself back into the center of the saddle before the horse even made it through the doorway. He was as good as gone, but just as Sima Yi rode through the doorway, Cao Pi came around the corner. He grabbed Sima Yi and threw him off the horse. Sima Yi landed back in the stable, not far from her. The horse spooked and took off in the opposite direction, steering clear of the flames still fed by oil. Cao Pi rolled up his sleeves. He slammed his fist into Sima Yi's face. Sima Yi landed on his back. So Cao Pi grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet.

"Do you have any idea what it was like, seeing your conniving face day after day knowing what you had done to my wife!?" Cao Pi roared before slamming his fist into Sima Yi's face once again.

He let Sima Yi fall back, twist in midair and land on his stomach.

Sima Yi slowly lifted himself onto his hands and knees. That's when his eyes found hers.

"It seems that there has been a rebellion and amongst the chaos, the entire Sima clan has been annihilated." She painfully spoke with her jaw which was beginning to swell.

Cao Pi grinned. He kicked Sima Yi in the side to flip him over. Then he sat on top of Sima Yi's stomach and began hurling punch after punch upon his face.

"I swore to myself that I would kill you once you caused more problems than you solved." He told Sima Yi between punches, but he was tired and thus couldn't keep this up for long.

Cao Pi's punches grew weaker and further apart, until they stopped completely. When he couldn't punch any longer, he stood up and took a step back.

"There's still Wu. Do you think you can compete with Lu Xun?" Sima Yi challenged as he whipped some blood off the side of his face.

Zhen could hear the pain in his voice.

"I'd rather take my chances against Lu Xun than another of your rebellions."

"I'm not going to rebel again." Sima Yi responded as he pulled himself up to his feet. "I've already lost everything."

Was he really pleading for your life? She never imagined that Sima Yi would plead for his life. She had never thought that he would turn and run like a coward either, but he already had, twice and that was just today.

"Not your life." Cao Pi coldly reminded.

"What is life when everyone you ever cared about is dead?"

Zhen froze. She had heard those words before.

"I didn't think that a snake like you was capable of love."

"Ask your wife." Sima Yi sneered.

Cao Pi spun around and slammed his fist into Sima Yi's gut. Sima Yi doubled over. So Cao Pi grabbed the folds of his collar to hold him still so that he could presumably knock out Sima Yi's teeth, but Zhen stopped him.

"Wait!"

Both men looked over at her.

"What did you say!? What's life when everyone you care about is dead?" She repeated. "Yueying said that to me before I killed her."

It couldn't be a coincidence. One of them had learned it from the other. The only question, was when.

"How long have you been in league with Yueying?" When he didn't answer right away, she shouted. "How long!?"

Anyone could have been in line with Yueying and Sima Yi and they probably still were. Cao Pi needed to know whom he could trust in Shu.

Cao Pi turned back to Sima Yi.

"Like you said, you've lost everything. What do you have to gain by not telling us?"

Sima Yi sneered.

"Sense the Wuzhang plains, I suppose. Jiang Wei sent me an offer. If I kept Wei out of Shu, he'd help me dispose of you."

Then Yueying had been the one to think of kidnapping Cao Pi, just as she had thought.

"Where you only conspiring with Yueying!?" Cao Pi demanded.

Sima Yi only laughed.

"What do we do now?" She asked Cao Pi. "Execute him?"

"No. He's not going to get the honor of a tragic death to be witnessed by those that will keep a poetic account of it. He's going to die here. No witnesses, no poems, no memory. It will be like he never existed at all."

If only he hadn't.

Sima Yi tried saying something, maybe a curse, but she couldn't understand. His mumble was too quiet.

Cao Pi bent down and picked up the arrow she had used to stab Sima Yi's foot. He swung his arm to swipe the arrow across Sima Yi's throat, but Sima Yi drew out a hidden blade. Cao Pi jumped back, but Sima Yi was still able to plunge the knife into Cao Pi's leg.

Cao Pi let out a shout as he fell backwards and landed on his back. The back of his head landed on Zhen's thigh. She let out a painful cry, but it cushioned Cao Pi's fall. He clung to his leg and howled in pain. When he was able to clamp his jaw shut and muffle his screams into merely labored breaths, he looked over at Sima Yi.

"It's been poisoned, hasn't it?" He asked through grit teeth.

Sima Yi smirked, revealing his blood stained teeth.

"I've been saving it for you. It's what left of what you tried to kill me with. Don't worry, it won't kill you, just cause you more pain than you can imagine."

Cao Pi's hand moved from clinging to the flesh around the dagger to clinging to the dagger itself. He ripped it out with a shout and lunged forward. Sima Yi turned and ran, but he wasn't fast enough. Cao Pi was able to plunge the dagger into Sima Yi's back. Sima Yi fell forward, into the pool of oil and flames. The oil splashed up in the air as he landed in it. The flames consumed him.

She had always thought that Sima Yi's screams of death would be something that would make her smile and breathe a breath of relief unlike any she ever had before, but she didn't. She didn't know how she felt. Watching Sima Yi die should have made her rejoice and the fact that Cao Pi had done it should make her so overwhelmed with joy that she should cry, but she didn't. She watched the flames spread and dug deeper into him while he flailed his arms and rolled over back and forth. She smelled his flesh burning and she heard his screams.

She closed her eyes.

But then, she didn't hear his screams. She opened her eyes again and didn't see him rolling over anymore and he didn't flail his arms. She could still smell what was left of his flesh, but nothing else.

Sima Yi was dead.

Sima Yi was dead. He was finally dead. It was all finally over. The plague, the war against Shu, Sima Yi, it was all over.

Cao Pi slowly rolled onto his back. There was only a small distance between them.

"Cao."

Zhen pushed herself forward and stretched her hand to Cao Pi. She still clung to her side with her other hand. She could still feel the metallic liquid sticking and crusting between her fingers. Cao Pi reached his hand out and clung to hers. She could feel blood there too.

"It's over, Zhen." He told her as he eased his head back onto the ground and closed his eyes.

Zhen rested her head on the cock of the elbow of her outstretched arm.

"Finally."

Cao Pi's grip on her hand suddenly tightened as the pain from the poison started. She tightened her grip too, to let him know that she was still there.

She could hear his breath become ragged and restrained, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Yet she once again refused to do nothing. She moved herself closer to him. She sat beside him and leaned over top of him, still clinging to his hand. She cupped his face in her spare hand to protect his head from hitting the wall. He grabbed her forearm and clung to it with his spare hand.

That's when she felt someone's eyes on her. She looked out the stable doorway and found Zhang Liao there.

"Go get the physicians, hurry!"

Zhang Liao turned and ran, shouting instructions to her men that the emperor was to be taken to his quarters.

Some soldiers came running in. They flung Cao Pi's arms over their shoulders and lifted him to his feet. She noticed that his leg that had been stabbed drug limp.

Zhang Liao and his men came in. He watched in silence as Cao Pi was carried past. Then he turned and kneeled down next to her.

"Put your arm around my shoulder."

She did so and clung to her side with the other. Zhang Liao hooked his arms around her waist and under her knees. She braced herself against the pain of movement when he picked her up and followed the path of the soldiers who had taken Cao Pi away.


	23. The End

The End

There was a light, a very bright and warm light that pierced through her eyelids and a softness that was engulfing her. Zhen slowly peeled her eyes open and blinked until her eyes worked again.

She was in a lavish bedchamber. The entire room appeared to be empty. So she pushed herself up to lean against the headboard. Just then, her side exploded on fire. She clamped her jaw and closed her eyes to brace against the pain. When the pain subsided just enough to be tolerable, she looked down. Her wound was cleaned and dressed tightly, but it was far from healed.

Zhen pushed the sheets off and carefully swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She grabbed the silk robe that she had left draped over a chair. She lifted it over her shoulders and tied it loosely around her waist. She pushed the doors of her chambers open. A warm breeze caressed her face. She closed her eyes and clung to the door handles for a moment.

When she started walking down the hallways, she was a little more clear headed and the pain had lessened. She walked under the archway and crossed into the garden. She spotted Cao Pi sitting on one of the benches. He had his little leather book in hand. He wrote in it slowly.

She put her hand on one of the peach trees and leaned her shoulder against it.

"Zhen."

She turned to find Zhang Liao. His arm was wrapped tightly against his middle. There were bloodstained bandages on one side of his face.

"Zhang Liao, your face…"

"It'll be fine, but Empress Zhen, I need to tell you something."

She knew that this wasn't going to be good.

"What?"

"The poison has left Cao Pi's leg greatly weakened. He can't walk without a cane now."

She quickly looked over her shoulder at where Cao Pi was sitting. A wooden cane was propped up against the bench. She hadn't noticed it before.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"All of the Simas are dead and their followers are to be executed."

"So… it's over?"

Zhang Liao nodded.

"The only enemy that remains is Wu and they suffered far worse because of the plague than we did."

"So they won't be much of a threat."

"Correct."

She turned back to face Zhang Liao.

"Thank you, Zhang Liao, for everything. You're a good friend."

He smiled.

"And from one friend to another, if you like Cai Wenji, you should really say something."

Zhang Liao's face turned red, ever so slightly.

"Oh come now, Zhang Lao. I spent three years with Wenji in that little village. She was always a different person when news came that you were coming with Cao Pi for a visit and I saw that you couldn't take your eyes off her while you were there. Say something, Zhang Liao. Life is short and we don't have time to waste. The wars and the plague should have taught us that much."

She put her hand on Zhang Liao's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before she turned and walked over to Cao Pi. He must have heard her coming, but he didn't look up at her.

"They told you?"

She sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around his neck. Her hand rested on the center of his chest, where she could feel his heartbeat.

"Yes. It's finished. The Simas are dead."

"That's not what I meant."

She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"They told me about that too."

"It's a small price to pay for what we've won."

Was he trying to hide his anger about it from her? She could feel it in the tensions of his shoulders and she could hear it in his voice.

"It's still not fair. Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's done is done, but it never would have happened if I hadn't been captured. None of it."

The look he gave her told her more than words ever could. He blamed himself for everything, the capital being taken, word of his supposed death, Sima Yi raping her, maybe even the spread of the plague and everyone's injuries from Sima Yi's last rebellion.

"Don't." She told him firmly. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

"If I had killed Sima Yi back in Xuchang…"

"Then Liu Shan would have won the war. Sima Yi is the reason we were able to take Luoyang back. The only mistake that we both made, was to not kill him as soon as we won the battle of Mount Qi, but then Sima Shi and Sima Zhao would have rebelled eventually and maybe they would have done it in Luoyang."

The consequences of that would have been far worse. Everyone of importance to them was in Luoyang, mainly, the children.

Cao Pi wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I miss the children." He admitted. "I've already missed so much and Nu Ming…"

When he didn't finish, she assured him.

"She knows that you're letting her stay under your care at your expense."

He hadn't really said anything about Nu Ming in the past. He had just silently accepted the fact that Zhen had taken her in, making a daughter of her instead of letting her grow up on the streets, but as Cao Pi saw it, an ally instead of an enemy.

She did not think he cared about Nu Ming. She was the daughter of his first wife by his younger brother, the living proof of their treachery.

"Does she know that she's not my daughter?" Cao Pi eventually asked.

"I don't know. She never asked me and I never told her anything."

"We should tell her the truth, but…"

"But you don't want her thinking that she's owed an inheritance and you don't want her to spread the word of her paternity." She finished.

He nodded.

"Well, if word got out that she's Zhi's daughter, then people would be enraged that the daughter of the traitor was living in our palace. The people wouldn't take to her. She would never be safe if it was known."

He shook his head.

"No, no more lies. No more scheming, especially not within my own family. We will tell Nu Ming the truth and she will no longer be a princess, but she will be a lady of my court as long as she lives."

"Alright."

Nu Ming wouldn't be treated much different as 'Lady' instead of 'Princess', but she wouldn't be a threat to Rui either.

X

Their return to Luoyang was spectacular. Cheers, smiles, flowers, gifts, nothing was missing. Everything that was pleasant or joyful was there.

There wasn't anything out of place or missing at the celebration feast either. Except this time, Cao Rui and Nu Ming both attended the feast as Prince and Lady. Both were dressed appropriately according to their station. Gods how they both grew! Both were ten years of age and were nearly fully grown. Rui was still the image of Cao Pi, just as strong and talented too. Nu Ming resembled her mother with her sharp features, but her gentle eyes and kind demeanor reminded her of Empress Bian.

Cao Pi, Zhen, Rui and Nu Ming were all sitting together at the table, watching the dancers move to the music. Zhen was sitting between Cao and Nu Ming. Rui was on Cao's other side from her. Zhen was watching Cai Wenji and Zhang Liao in the corner. When they left the feast together, holding hands, Zhen's gaze moved to Liu Shan and Lady Zhang.

"Tell me, do you miss Chengdu?" One of Cao Pi's generals asked Liu Shan.

"I am happy here. I have not thought of Chengdu sense I came here."

Zhen took a drink of wine. When she lowered her cup, she saw Cao Ren approaching the table.

"My lord, may I discuss something with you?"

Cao Pi nodded. He used his cane to help him to his feet. Then he used it to help him walk, placing his weight on it instead of his bad leg with every stride.

Cao Ren probably had received word from the southern border, where Wu was probably going to continue the attack. Cao Ren had become passionate about defeating Wu, to save the least.

"Mother," Nu Ming started. "I am glad that you told me the truth. I was worried that you never would."

Zhen froze.

"You mean that you knew all along?"

"My… other mother never told me, but I figured it out before we came back to Xuchang, just by how she talked of Cao Zhi."

"We didn't want to tell you too soon sense we didn't know what you had been told."

"I hadn't been told much of anything, but I was able to figure out enough. Like that my family, my true family may not be very close in blood to me, but it doesn't matter. It's not the blood that makes family."

X

Cao Pi, Zhen Ji and Cao Rui all walked around the courtyard. Nu Ming was sitting with her own poem book, perfectly content with everything around her. Dong Xiang had been given some song birds, which she now kept in portable cages, but those birds spent more time in Dong Xiang's hands than in their cages. Between holding the birds and grooming her horses and all the other horses in the stable, Dong Xiang was probably the busiest girl in the palace. Xie and the twins played more games than they tended to any sort of study, but Xie was six and the twins were five. There would be plenty of time for that later.

"Father, we should move on Wu now!"

Cao Pi chuckled.

"I was just as anxious for my first war as well. I was twice as old as you are now, I had had more teaching in strategies and more training with a sword, but I still wasn't prepared for what that battle brought me."

"Your first kill?" Rui guessed.

"Yes, but it's also where I met your mother."

She shared a look with Cao Pi. It had been more than ten years ago.

Rui wrinkled his nose.

"I want to fight!"

Cao Pi put his hand on Rui's shoulder.

"You will. You will have many battles to keep this land together. Don't be too eager to get started."

Rui rolled his eyes in practice for his teenage years and trotted off.

"I wonder what his battles will be." She thought aloud.

"Sun Quan fled from Hefei when he saw our army coming. All that's left is to invade his capital."

He put his arm around her waist and pulled her up against him. She placed her hands on his chest and slid the tips of her fingers across the patch of bare skin she found at his collar.

"I imagine that Sun Quan will offer one of his daughters to Rui for some kind of peace treaty with us."

"No, I want to watch the girls chase him before anything like that."

"Did they chase you?" She teased.

"Not as much as our daughter used to."

"Well, then we'll have to do something to keep you from becoming soft."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him the same way he had kissed her, all those years ago when they first met.

The End


	24. Credits

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone that's read and reviewed my story! And special thank yous for SilentNinja, IgNighted, AsteriaLumina, Shenhu and Snook 24. I'd also like to thank everyone that's helped me come up with ideas and provided me with historical information.

The 'Legend, Loyalties and Laments' has definatey been my favorite story so far and I'm sad that it's over, but all things come to an end.

My next story is called 'War of the Benders Book 1: Water'. The main paring will be Cao Cao and Nu Wa with a little Diao Chan and Lu Bu. Wang Yi will also be a major character later on in the series. I'll post it soon. Until then, see ya later!


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